Original of the Species 4: The Robots and the Saiyan: Cell
by Muad'zin
Summary: Multiple Crossover (mostly DBZ, some SG-1, some Eddingsverse) He's here! You know who, tall, dark green and evil. ;) It's all about becoming perfect right?
1. Prologue

**Original of the Species**

x

 **Part 4 The Robots and the Saiyan: Cell**

x

x

Multiple Crossover (mostly DBZ, some SG-1, some Eddingsverse) He's here! You know who, tall, dark green and evil. ;)

x

Time for the next instalment, boys and girls. Yes, I've gotten off my ass a little earlier then expected, I didn't need people to bug me for my next instalment. Once I had a lot of spare time I got started on working out the general outline and after that the first chapter wrote itself.

Now, this is going to be a little different then the previous parts, as this one is mostly centred on events taking place in the DBZverse instead of the Buffyverse. In a way I've been living towards this moment since I first started writing this story. Oh how I've longed to do the android/cell sagas! Everything else in between was just like the stairs of Moria scene in Fellowship of the Ring. Where to the script only said: And then the Fellowships descends down the stairs. And what a descent that turned out to be, right? ;)

But I've come to like what I did with the three years waiting for the android invasion. There was some good shit in there and fun times to be had. But everything comes to an end and I hope I can live up to the expectations.

There's going to be some political shit and tie ins to real historical events in this story. Now, while I have some strong political views on things, I hate it when writers use their stories to soapbox on certain things. That was one of the things where I think jKal dropped the ball with Far Beyond Normal. It has always been my writing policy that the political views of the characters are their own and not mine. Which in laymans terms means a character should have those views which are in character to him or her, not mine. Which in the case of most characters should be easy as their characters have been long established in their respective shows. And if its something that wasn't in the show it shouldn't be an asspull. Except for Belmo's prejudice against gays, which I think is funny. (him being prejudiced that is, not the actual prejudice. Which is wrong).

I like to think the usual suspects, Shadowmaster for exchanging ideas with me and giving me some good ones to use. You'll recognize them, dude. ;) Then there are the people who inspired me to take up writing, by now you should know who you are. ;) And then there is you the reader. Enjoy and be sure to feed me regular reviews. I needs them!

Alright, time for the obligatory. Let us never forget the true Gods who came up with this stuff long before I did. All hail Whedon, Toriyama, the late David Eddings (You Da Man!). And the buggers who came with Stargate who I'm just too lazy to google up. But you know who you are. No rights reserved! All copyrights cheerfully ignored. I'm just playing with this stuff to entertain myself. In fact this might even result in additional sales/fans for these franchises. Honest!

x

x

 **Gemini**

Slayer – Undisputed Attitude

Lyrics by Tom Araya

 _Endure the pain, you know my name  
I am your soul insane_

 _I am no one, no one who cares  
I am your soul despair_

 _Your fear deceives, vulnerability  
leaving an easy prey_

 _Consume your mind, a power so divine  
will take you and rape you blind_

 _Gemini, master of demise  
your death is my salvation to a kingdom mine  
my lord is my light, the master of darkness  
your death is my salvation, to a kingdom mine_

 _You look at me with eyes of fate and see the graphic truth_

 _Your ignorance cannot shield you from your naked abuse  
Numbing of your moral sense, facing reality  
That life is unconditional and death is only the beginning_

 _Gemini, master of demise  
your death is my salvation to a kingdom mine  
my lord is my light, the master of darkness  
your death is my salvation, to a kingdom mine_

 _The pain will never end..._

 _Walking slow, breathing heavy you could see death sweat  
how it shined an argument out of control in my mind_

 _I am here for the sole purpose of your death  
walking slow breathing heavy, you can see death sweat._

 _I am here for the sole purpose of death  
look into my eyes and see the revelation of your demise  
feel the pain that stares at the center of your heart  
reflections of my soul  
reflections of the dark_

x

x

 **Prologue**

' **The Saints Are Coming'**

x

x

AN: _And so it begins. Again! Have fun and don't forget, writers are somewhat similar to women. We need food, water and reviews!_

x

x

A Day +23:42

x

"This is exciting."

Tien and Krillin looked aside to their friend Yamcha who was sitting in between them. The three of them were sitting at the bar of a local Australian pub. Behind them a group of surly bikers were playing pool and making a moderate amount of noise.

"Gee, that's like the, what is it? 14th time that you said that?" Tien moaned as he put his head down on the counter in frustration.

"If you're tired of my company, why don't you go ask those bikers for a date," Yamcha said annoyed.

"Guys," Krillin said imploringly, "Let's be nice, okay? It's been a long day."

"Too long," Yamcha sighed wistfully as he studied the empty beer glass in front of him, "Look guys, it's not that I'm not happy to see you, or that it's nice to spend some time again together. But when you spend three years preparing for something it kinda bums when nothing happens."

"I thought you liked having your peace and quiet?" Tien asked, to which Yamcha shrugged.

"There's quiet quiet and there is the quiet like you know something should have happened but didn't and instead hangs over you like a big flaming sword of doom," Yamcha said sullenly.

"I know," Krillin said as he casually glanced at the TV on the wall, showing a re-run of an Australian rules football match, "It feels anti-climactic."

"Maybe Piccolo was wrong," Yamcha mused softly, "Maybe he got the date wrong. Maybe its tomorrow. Or next week. Or next year."

"I didn't get it wrong," a voice growled from the other side of the bar, where Piccolo sat hunched over a mineral water, "besides, if I got it wrong, then so did Goku. Or future Saiyan."

Yamcha looked up and gave the Namek a glare.

"So why the no show of the killer Androids?" he asked accusingly, "Why have we waited all day and nothing happened?"

"How would I know?" Piccolo muttered, "Because Future Saiyan was wrong? Because he was lying? Because Belmovekk's shenanigans have changed the timeline? All I know is that I heard what I heard. And I did not get it wrong."

"Speaking of his Saiyan meddlesomeness," Yamcha said as he looked around the bar, "where the hell is he? Where the hell are all the Saiyans for that matter?"

"To ask the question is to answer it," Piccolo said as he sipped from his mineral water, "They're Saiyans. Walking stomachs. What do you think happened? They went to get something to eat." 

"Again?"

"Again, to ask the question is to answer it," Piccolo replied sullen. To which Yamcha replied something under his breath that sounded suspiciously much like fortune cookie wisdom dispenser.

"Looks like we're the only ones left," Krillin said as he looked around, "Even Bulma's gone."

"I wish," Yamcha sighed as he hit the counter with his forehead, "Capsule Corp. has a hotel suite on retainer not far from here. If only she really did disappear and take that foul demon spawn of her with her."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," Tien asked curiously, "Yamcha, what the hell? What the hell happened?"

"Yeah," Krillin added, "I thought you guys were sure to get married and have kids. Now she's with Vegeta?"

"Technically she's with no one," Yamcha said without looking up, "she just got a kid from him."

"You know what Krillin meant," Tien said.

"You guys were such a cute couple," Krillin said.

"Only if you define cute as in only just refraining from killing each other," Yamcha said as he raised a finger as if in trying to make a point, but his face remained firmly on the counter.

"Aw come on," Krillin protested politely, "it wasn't that bad, right? And even if it was, it's better to have someone then no one, right?"

Yamcha began to wiggle his raised finger from left to right.

"You're only saying that because you're not getting any, Krillin," he said still without looking up, "Be glad you never had a girlfriend like Bulma."

"Somebody had to do it," Tien shrugged, "Guess you didn't have what it takes to handle a girl like that."

Yamcha looked and glared at Tien.

"Says the guy who dates a male midget." Yamcha snorted, "come back when you actually sleep with a girl first."

Tien wanted to say something when the door to the bar opened and the two Slayers walked in with their friends.

"Hey look," he said instead, "Team Slayer's back."

The three looked around as the two Slayers came towards them.

"That blonde vampire gives me the creeps," Krillin said as he watched the bleached vampire trailing the others with a bored look, "he has all those implants."

"You want to hear something that really gives you the creeps?" Yamcha said almost whispering, "Bulma gave him a tune up before coming here. Said she managed to quintuple his power output. He can kick _all_ of our asses now."

"What is this world coming to?" Tien said shaking his head in dejection.

"Did you miss us, guys?" the dark haired Slayer smiled her most seductive smile.

"Only in the sense that I've spent way too much time with these two guys on one day without any action," Yamcha replied as he pointed to Tien and Krillin, "So where did you guys disappear to?"

"You think you got bored, Scarface?" the bleached vampire said as he sat down on a chair and put his feet on the table, "Try being a Slayer. They got bored waiting and decided that since they were here they might as well go on a patrol."

"Patrolling for what?" Krillin asked puzzled. Upon which Tien put two fingers on front of his mouth like he had two fangs pointing downwards. Meanwhile Yamcha pretended to drape himself in a cape.

"I hear ze children of ze night," he said in a fake Rumanian accent, "I hear zem calling."

"Oh," Krillin said as he finally got the hint.

"I hate those sodding movies," the vampire moaned.

"There were more of them then we thought though," Xander said, "Three vamp nests, seven kinds of demons."

Then he looked at the red haired sorceress and they both smiled.

"And they made a very agreeable thumb!" they said in unison.

Before one of the Z fighters could ask the blonde Slayer spoke up.

"Where's Belmo?" she asked and looked around, "And his Awesomeness for that matter?"

"Saiyans and their stomachs," Yamcha smiled and shrugged, "They say armies march on their stomachs, well, since Saiyans are one man armies…."

"Go figure," the blonde Slayer said annoyed, "Just when….."

Before she could finish her sentence the door to the bar opened again and in stormed Belmovekk the Saiyan, followed by Goku and his son. Only they weren't carrying food and Belmovekk practically ran towards the TV. Looking for a way to change channels he fumbled with the TV controls for a moment before muttering something that surprisingly sounded much like 'stupid hunk of Earth junk. Then he put his hand on the TV.

"Change," he said and the channel switched from the Ozzy rules football to CNN.

"Hey, we were watchi …..," one of the bikers said before stopping mid sentence as the Saiyan shot him a patented death glare that had him cower for cover.

Returning his attention to the TV, on CNN there were people discussing something amidst images of a burning skyscraper.

"CNN?" the bartender behind Yamcha said surprised, "I didn't know I had bloody cable!"

"Belmo? What's going on?" the blonde Slayer asked as she approached the Saiyan who seemed glued to the TV screen.

"Shhh," he said as he signalled her to stop talking, "Any moment…."

Then a news anchorman came into view.

"For those of you who have just joined us here at CNN International, at 08:45 AM, Eastern Time an explosion took place near the top of the North tower of the World Trade Center in New York. As you can see from the images the explosion has caused a massive hole near the top, from which a fire seems to be burning. The NYPD and fire departments are rushing to the scene carrying out an evacuation."

"Although there is no word from the authorities there appears to be a rumor going on that this is not some accident but an organized attack, that apparently a suicide bomber detonated himself on the 95th floor. Again there is no official statement to prove this but sources close to CNN have heard reports of a possible suicide bomber on NYPD police channels and… Good God!" 

On the TV the image of the news anchor was switched to the background picture of the burning WTC tower as a massive explosion erupted on the other WTC tower.

"Oh no," the red haired sorceress gasped aghast and the Xander kid put his hands on her shoulder.

The three Z-fighters turned towards Piccolo.

"They're in New York?" Tien said aghast, "How can this be?"

"History has got to be changed," Piccolo said as he stood up and walked towards the TV, "Something we did changed the timeline. That's the only thing I can think off that makes sense."

"But we didn't do anything, Piccolo," Goku said as the Namek walked past by him.

"Maybe you didn't," Piccolo said as he stopped near the TV and briefly glanced at the other Saiyan, "But somebody did." 

"Just say it, Piccolo," Belmovekk said edgy, "It's my fault, isn't it?"

Piccolo wanted to say something but he changed his mind.

"At least you tried," he finally said, "at least you tried."

"We're in the wrong place," Tien said as he hopped off his stool, "We have to go there. And fast."

"No shit, Sherlock," the vampire said, "And what makes you think those 'bots will still be there once you get there?"

"Goku," Yamcha said like he had the solution, "Instant transmission, remember?"

The vampire shot him a look like he was stupid.

"Have you ever fought one of those 'bots?," he said a very condescending tone of voice, "It's not like Superman over there can zoom in one something he can't sense."

Before Yamcha could grab the vampire and shout that he had single-handedly finished off two androids already the Xander kid and the sorceress spoke up.

"Shut up, Spike!" they said in unison.

"Whatever," the vampire muttered and slumped into his chair.

"We have to go there," Piccolo said to Belmovekk, "You saw the news. Doesn't matter how it happened, it's happening. Right now! Can you and Goku teleport us there?"

The two Saiyans looked at each other and began to scratch their hair in unison.

"It doesn't work like that, Piccolo," Goku said, "If I can't lock onto a specific chi I could end up anywhere."

"One of his trainees!" Piccolo suggested as he pointed towards Belmovekk, "Thanks to him the United States is crawling with people with above average chi. Surely one of them must be near New York."

Goku thought it over for a moment, then he smiled.

"That might work," he said nodding.

"There is another solution" Belmovekk said as he looked at Willow, "Why do we not u…"

A light suddenly lit up the night sky outside the bar.

DOOM!

A loud explosion began to rattle the bar's windows and the Z-fighters and Team Slayer ran towards the windows

"They're here now as well?" Krillin said shocked as he could see the fires of the explosion run high a mile away.

"It looks that way, buddy," Yamcha said as he saw the flash of another explosion happen on the other side of the city, then he ran outside, after the others.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter 1**

' **Jigsaw Falling Into Place'**

x

x

AN: _The game's afoot! Also the fastest chapter I ever wrote. When you're in the zone you're in the zone._

x

Slade42: The interweave with the events of 9-11 is crucial, as I wanted to have the events of the Cell game take place during this background and chaos. That's why, if anyone noticed, I shifted the whole storyline of BtVS a year up, from its start in 1997 to 1998. This was planned long ago, from the start. If anyone's worried, I tried really really hard to not let my personal opinions shape or color the story in this regard. The characters and story dictate how a story should go, not an author's personal soapbox. As for the Slayers getting their shot at the Hyperbolix time chamber? Yes. As for the fusion spell used against Adam, I don't think it would work on non-Slayers, as I suspect its tied pretty much to the Slayer spirit.

x

* * *

x

A Day +1

x

As Yamcha overflew the city of Sydney he really wished he was somewhere else right now. From high up he could see that in the night clad city several fires were raging at several different places. From high up here he could also see that the pattern of these fires was erratic. There didn't seem to be any determined plan behind the attack. Now if it had been Yamcha and he was out to make a terrorist statement he'd attack famous landmarks, big corporations and government buildings. But the fires raged all over the city randomly.

That is if he were a terrorist.

But the spread of the pattern seemed way in line with somebody just lobbing off powerful attacks at random. Like somebody who was testing out its power for the first time.

Oh, those androids were here alright.

And not for the last time Yamcha wished he was somewhere else.

For years now he had followed Goku into his wacky adventures. And it had been fun for a while. Because for most of them the difference between Goku and him, and the others for that matter, had never been that big.

And then came the Saiyan invasion.

Despite training his ass off for a year Yamcha found himself outclassed. Even worse, he had found himself dead! And to make things worse, it wasn't even a Saiyan that had killed him, but a fighting piece of lettuce that had gone kamikaze on him. The humiliation!

In the afterlife he had watched or sensed or whatever the hell that King Kai guy had done to make them see with him what happened on planet Namek. He had cheered as Goku went Super Saiyan and defeated Freeza. It was however once he was restored to life that it hit him.

What role was there still in it for him now that Goku and even Piccolo had reached previously undreamt levels of power?

Everybody always assumed that he had begun to slack off because Vegeta moved in their place at Capsule Corp. and that the Vegetable had used him as his punching bag. But that had not been it. At least not completely. It was the ever growing realization that he had become… redundant? That his only role from now on was to be the cheerleader, not a real member of Goku's posse. He was becoming, as the Sunnydale sorceress once called it, the Zeppo.

This feeling had been reinforced by the events of the Battle for Sunnydale, which was according to Krillin the closest he would come to actually having fought on planet Namek against Freeza. It was then that Yamcha realized he preferred not even being the cheerleader but rather the spectator. Preferably from a different dimension.

He hadn't told anybody yet but the only reason he had come to Sydney to fight the android was fear. He really didn't want to fight anymore. He wanted to tell his friends that this was the last fight. Hell, what he really wanted was to tell that he wasn't even going to find this particular fight. Oh, he was scared shitless alright.

But this was a battle to save the world. There wasn't going to be a safe place anywhere if Future Saiyan was to believed. So he might as well stick it out, do what little he still could. And don't be a coward who deserted his friends. He'd never hear the end of it!

As he flew around scouring the city for a sign of those androids, pondering why Future Saiyan didn't include some photographs as well, Yamcha noticed a small fleet of RAAF helicopters coming his way. Considering he didn't know how much Belmovekk had told the authorities about what to expect this day he figured it might be better to get out of their way, before they mistook him for one of the Androids. After all, life had a perverse sense of humor.

So he lowered himself near one of the fires to let the helicopters pass. As he touched down near the fire he noticed that there were no emergency services on the scene, even though there was a lot of devastation. Poor bastards were probably overwhelmed, Yamcha thought. Well, he might as well do some good. He was probably the worst fighter out here today, but he still made for an excellent rescue worker.

He found an overturned car with some unconscious occupants. Using his strength he ripped off the doors and began pulling out the occupants. One was dead but the two others were still alive. Checking them for seriously injuries Yamcha determined that they would probably be alright. Which meant that he could look after others.

As he made his way around the scene of the explosion, helping people as he went along, Yamcha suddenly heard a woman scream.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP ME!"

It wasn't near the blast site but it was close. Instincts kicked in and Yamcha made for where he had heard the woman scream.

x

* * *

x

"A human with an unusual high energy level is coming. Has my search system failed?" a voice said.

"No, my search system has detected it as well," came the reply.

"It is far stronger then my data on humans allows for," the first voice said.

"He has already found us," the second voice said mildly elated, "Son Goku!"

x

* * *

x

As Yamcha rounded a corner and came onto another residential street he didn't find any sign of the screaming woman. He did however find two mangled bodies, lying crumpled against a hedge. Kneeling down next to one of them for a moment Yamcha gave them a brief examination. Their necks had been crushed like an empty soda can.

Alarm bells went off inside Yamcha's head and for once he wished they all had the smarts to carry a cell phone so he could alert the others. The androids were near alright.

"Where did they go?" he said out loud as he began to look around, "Where did they go too?"

Then he noticed that in the house across the street a head was peering cautiously out of a darkened window.

"Who killed these people?" he shouted, "Did you see anything?"

The head raised himself and revealed himself as a man as he leaned out of the window.

"Yeah I did," the man said in a thick Australian accent, "They were an odd couple of blokes. They were right here when they suddenly went poof and disappeared."

"Damn, they disappeared," Yamcha said as he gritted his teeth. But if they were this close now might better be the time to get the others, as he had no doubt he was seriously outclassed here.

"But they could be everywhere," Yamcha said aloud worried, his eyes looking left and right, "If they got here from New York this fast who knows where they could be?"

It was then that Yamcha felt the presence of something behind him. Not a chi presence, nothing like that. No, this was like suddenly feeling something that made all the hairs in the back of his neck stand up straight. Like you just knew that bad ju ju was about to be had and if you valued your life it was best to bugger off.

Fast!

So, just like in a bad horror movie where he and Bulma used to laugh about the lack of common sense in the characters he slowly turned around.

And looked straight into the faces of two unlikely men.

One was an elderly man with long white hair, the other was an almost obese Chinese/Turcoman man. The both of them were dressed in some middle eastern garb, wearing large flat round hats which Yamcha would later learn were of Afghan origin. And again, just like those characters in bad horror movies,before he could even think Yamcha opened his mouth.

"Did you guys see anything?" he said, "Where did the kille…."

And then it hit him, almost literally like a ton of bricks.

Aw crap!

The two looked at him like he was an interesting insect and they were the scientists out to collect interesting insects. Only not in the sense of 'how interesting, a new species of bug'. No, it was more the look that said 'how interesting, finally, the missing piece of our collection'.

"Yes," the elderly man said with an emotionless voice, "we killed them."

Fuck cell phones! What they really needed in a time like this were wireless headsets so they were in constant communication with each other.

Yamcha wanted to yell, react, do something, anything that would attract the attention of the others. But before he could the elderly looking Android grabbed him by his chin, preventing him from speaking and lifted him off the ground.

Using his arms Yamcha flailed around like a mad man as he tried to break lose. But to no avail as he was being held like in a vice.

And then the elderly looking Android lunged with his other hand and punched right through his stomach, his hand coming out off Yamcha's back. Followed by not just pain, but also the weirdest sensation of being drained of his very life essence.

The last thing going to Yamcha's mind before losing consciousness was a defiant 'I hope I give you the shits!'

x

* * *

x

"Incorrect. That is not Son Goku," Android #19 said as he and Android #20 hovered a ten meters above Yamcha as he entered the street and found their last two victims, "There is a 96.6% probability that it is the human called Yamcha."

"It does not matter," the other Android replied, "We can get a lot of energy from him."

"Agreed," Android #19 acknowledged. Then the both of them let themselves down slowly until they touched down behind Yamcha. He must have sensed something because Yamcha turned around and saw them.

"Did you guys see anything?" he said, "Where did the kille…."

Then he stopped as he suddenly realized who he was dealing with. Before he could react Android #20 reached out and grabbed Yamcha by his mouth, making it impossible for him to scream and lifted him off the ground. While he did so Android #19 used his sensors to scan the human called Yamcha. He was strong. Not so strong as to cause trouble but still way stronger then he should have been. Could this be the confirmation of what his creator had sometimes feared?

Then #20 lunged forth and drove his free arm straight through Yamcha's abdomen and out the back again. Good, take no chances with such a strong foe, #19 thought approvingly, deliver a fatal blow, then suck him dry. After all, if Yamcha was this strong it meant it was all the more important to get all the energy they needed.

As Yamcha closed his eyes and slowly began to die #20 activated the sensor in his hand that would allow him to absorb the dying man's energy.

He had collected quite a sizeable chunk of Yamcha's energy when suddenly something black and leathery whisked by and crashed into Android #20, causing him to drop Yamcha's body.

As Android #20 was thrown back into a car and completely crumpled the vehicle with the force of his impact, the attacker turned around and faced Android #19. It was a human male.

And yet he wasn't as his face was transformed into a monstrous feral grimace.

"You're one of those robots, aren't you, Teletubby?" the strange man asked as he straightened his black leather trench coat.

Android #19 assumed a fighting stance as he let loose every sensor on this strange man. He had no files on him in his database that would explain his great strength. But his sensors did come up with some pretty strange readings. First and foremost that by all accounts this man was dead. There was no heartbeat, no body heat other then that he was what humans most likely call at room temperature. But he had great power After all he had effortlessly knocked over Android #20 and he could survive a direct collision with a freight truck without batting an eye. The lack of chi to explain for this was worrisome.

"You are not human," the fat android remarked curiously.

"No shit, Teletubby," the attacker snarled back, "Neither are you, fatbot!"

"Are you an Android?" #19 asked flatly.

"Hell no," the attacker said contemptuously, "although they did their damn best though."

"You are a cyborg," #19 suddenly realized, "You have cybernetic implants. You are like us. Why do you fight for them?"

"Because I can't hurt them," the bleach blonde attacker said, then he smirked, "But I can hurt you."

"Doubtful," #19 said, followed by the loud screech of tearing metal, "You should have attacked when you had the chance."

From the crumpled up car into which Android #20 had crashed, chunks of metal fell to the side as #20 extracted himself from the tangled heap of car.

"Pff," the blonde sneered defiantly, "one bot, two bots, what's the difference? Just bring it on."

"Your bravado is not logical," #19 declared as #20 emerged from the heap of car. Then to his surprise the blonde cyborg began to laugh and reached in his coat to pull forth a packet of cigarettes.

"I guess I'm not the only one who should have attacked when he had the chance, Teletubby," he said as he lit the cigarette. No sooner had he lit the cigarette as several people dropped from the sky. Then a worried cry followed.

"YAMCHA!"

x

* * *

x

Krillin had flown all over Sydney, close with Tien when suddenly something was up. Some of Belmovekk's kids could be seen taking off to a different part of town, with chi flames burning like they were using afterburners or something.

"You think they saw something," Krillin yelled at Tien.

"I don't kno….," Tien said as he looked into the direction that they were going, then his eyes grew big, "A large chi is suddenly dimini…, Yamcha!"

As Tien raced to the direction Belmovekk's kids were going Krillin followed, so did the others. All converging on that same spot and landing close after the other.

Before them the vampire could be seen as he confronted two men, one elderly looking with long white hair, the other a fat Chinese/Turcoman man. The first one however had blood on one of his arms. Then Krillin looked aside and saw a familiar face lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

"YAMCHA!" Goku yelled aghast as he recognized his oldest male friend.

"Are those the androids?" Krillin said standing next to Tien, "They look so strange."

"I guess Gero likes to throw people off by giving them strange appearances," Tien said back softly.

Meanwhile Goku began to visibly tremble as he saw Yamcha lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Yamcha," Goku said, his voice breaking up as he was riding the thin crest between horror and pure Saiyan rage, "You guys killed Yamcha!."

"I think he's still alive," Faith said as she knelt down next to Yamcha and put her hand on his neck, "There's still a pulse."

"Give him a senzu, Krillin, quick," Goku said as the metaphorical steam was almost rising out of his ears.

"He's not going to swallow anything in this condition, Goku," Piccolo said off hand, never taking his eyes of the Androids. Which meant that even now Piccolo was probably too busy coming up with scenarios to deal with these Androids then to show worry or any kind of emotion in regards to Yamcha. Which was kinda good, Krillin thought. They could really use a plan right now.

Before Goku could respond something red haired emerged from a side street and ran past Goku.

"I can help," Willow said as she reached for a pouch with a very familiar powder.

"It's Magic Girl," Krillin said to Tien as he observed her doing her magic over Yamcha's body, "Where did she come from? Wasn't she at the bar?"

"My guess is that Belmovekk teleported her over," Tien said as he looked around, "But I don't see him."

"Why wouldn't he come?" Krillin said as he also began to look around, "He's been looking for these Androids for three years straight."

"Because maybe he doesn't want to advertise his presence to them?" Tien said back, "To keep something in reserve in case it goes badly?"

"Oh," Krillin nodded as he finally understood.

Meanwhile Willow had sprinkled her healing powder over Yamcha and the fallen Z fighter began to stir as the hole in his chest closed up.

"What the…..," Yamcha muttered as he opened his eyes, then he saw Goku hovering over him with those big puppy eyes, "Goku… the androids….."

"We know," Goku smiled and nodded elsewhere, "They're over there." As soon as Goku nodded Yamcha looked to that direction and his eyes grew big in horror as he saw the two androids standing there, observing them.

"Now he can take the senzu," Willow said towards Goku, upon which he looked towards Krillin. Taking the hint the small fighter reached for the small bag hanging from his belt and pulled out a small bean which he threw towards Goku.

"Catch!"

Catching the bean Goku handed it to Yamcha, then he smiled at Willow.

"Thank you, beautiful sorceress," he said grateful, "Words cannot express my thanks."

"You're welcome," Willow smiled back.

"Suck up," Tien muttered softly.

"Hey, don't I get any thanks?" the vampire Spike said, a half burned cigarette hanging from his mouth, "If it weren't for me they would have killed him you know."

"If you're fishing for thanks you don't really deserve it," Xander said in a tone that spoke of a strong dislike for the vampire, "You only did what you were supposed to do."

"So did she," Spike said as he pointed to Willow, then he waved his arm dismissively towards Xander, "aw, sod it!"

"Fascinating," the fat Android said to his fellow who had joined his side, "All she did was sprinkle a powder over him and said some words. And then his wounds closed up. I have no means to explain what I just witnessed."

"The senzu bean has similar healing properties," the elderly looking android said, "They are said to be magical in nature. Maybe her powder works similarly."

"That makes no sense," the fat android said unconvinced, "people do not heal from near death when sprinkled with just powder."

"The senzu bean makes no sense either but its workings have been observed and quantified," the elderly android said like he was a teacher correcting a petulant student, "Because it does not make sense is not the logical answer when faced with a similar outcome."

As Yamcha swallowed his senzu Piccolo turned to the androids.

"So you are the androids," he said matter of fact, "Now we know how you look."

"You know what we are?" the elderly android said somewhat surprised.

"They also knew that we were here," the fat android said, "it is as the creator feared."

"Indeed," the elderly android agreed, then he turned to Piccolo again, "Please, tell us how you know?"

"Why not force us to tell?" Piccolo said with a slight smirk.

"I will," the elderly android said flatly.

"Uh, guys this might not be the right place for a battle royale," Buffy said, "We're right in the middle of Sydney, remember?"

"Indeed," Xander agreed, "Might I suggest that we vamoose to somewhere el….."

Suddenly a large spotlight fell on them, followed by another. And another. The whooshing sound of helicopter blades could be heard above them. Then as everybody looked up a voice spoke from a megaphone.

"NOBODY MOVE! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST BY THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE FORCES. ANY ATTEMPT TO RESIST SHALL BE MET WITH DEADLY FOR…."

Before megaphone guy could finish his sentence two laser beams shot forth from the elderly android's eyes and struck the helicopter. Then he turned his head and shot beams at the other helicopters.

One after the other the RAAF helicopters exploded into balls of fire that came crashing down on the houses below them.

"STOP THAT!" Goku yelled and launched himself at the android and decked him before it could react. As he did the android lost his hat and his skull became visible, a clear plastic dome with what looked like a brain inside.

"Ew, ew, ew!" Buffy said in rising disgust as she saw the brains slosh about in what looked like a clear liquid.

"I don't wanna know where he got that," Xander said, equally horrified, but more by the idea that some poor sap had most likely been forced to donate that brain.

"They were only interfering," the android said meanwhile to Goku as he picked up his pakol hat to cover up his brain casing again.

"Follow me," Goku said defiantly as he pointed to the west, "Follow me and I'll destroy the both of you."

The two androids briefly looked at each other, then they looked at Goku and began to smirk.

"Do you think you can destroy us, Son Goku?" the fat one smirked.

"All right," the other one said, "Choose a place to die, Son Goku."

"You know his name?" Piccolo said surprised.

"We know most of your names, Piccolo," the elderly android replied then he looked at the others, Gohan, Tien Shin Han, Yamcha and Krillin."

"We do not know your names though," the fat one said as he looked at Team Slayer.

Buffy wanted to say her name when Xander spoke up.

"We're just here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. _Your_ ass."

"They know our names," Krillin said meanwhile to Goku.

"It doesn't matter," the Saiyan said, "We'll find out later. Let's go!"

With that he launched himself into the air and flew west. And Piccolo along side him. As Piccolo took off, so did Faith and Gohan. And the two Androids. Tien followed suit, leaving only the Scoobies, Spike, Yamcha and Krillin.

"I have to say for a stupid git he has some style," Spike said admiringly as he dropped the butt of his cigarette, "Nice way to challenge somebody."

"Do we go after them?" Buffy asked looking around.

"Hey, I go where you guys go," Spike shrugged indifferent, "As far as I'm concerned I did my part, let Superman do the rest."

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy and Xander said in unison.

"Wankers," Spike muttered as he turned around and looked away to the burning houses around them.

Meanwhile Buffy tapped the scouter on her face. So far it hadn't lived to the job as they had hoped, even after the recent upgrade Bulma had done to scout for Gero type androids. Either she had failed or these were radically different types of android. Since Bulma didn't struck her as the kind of person that made mistakes she did feel a certain unease regarding the two androids. Something was wrong with them as her spidey senses tried to tell her.

"Are you listening, Belmo?" she asked.

"Does your world's sun rise in the East, young lady?" came the reply through her scouter.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I'm thinking worst case scenario here," Xander said as he joined in the conversation.

"I am of the same opinion here," came Belmovekk's reply, "it was wise of Xander not to give his name. They already know too much about Goku's group, the less they know about ours the better."

"How did they know their names?" Buffy said, "they recognized them all except us."

"And for that I am profoundly grateful, young lady," Belmovekk replied, "My guess those Androids who tried to check on us weren't on their first trip. He's probably been spying on Son Goku for a while and learned of his friends that way. That they don't know of you is good because it means the surveillance ended earlier rather then later."

"I think its better if you all go after them. And take Willow with you. If Goku were to fall she can still portal you all to safety."

"Aren't you coming?" Buffy asked surprised, "I thought you wanted to destroy those things for years."

"That was before they came about," came the reply, "the situation has changed. Go, I can always use my instant transmission to come to your aid. Meanwhile I have to straighten out the mess here. Warleader Hammond will not be pleased."

"Maybe you should get him another spaceship?" Xander quipped, "Nothing says forgive me more to the military then flowers and free battlecruisers."

"Xander!" Willow said frowning.

"I understand," Buffy said, then she tapped her scouter again, switching off teamspeak.

"Now why didn't we get some of those?" Yamcha said pointing to their scouters, "If just so we can warn eachother! It's not like we don't know a certain somebody who makes them."

"Time to go, Fangless," Xander said to Spike, then he lifted off and flew off towards the West. Buffy let Willow put her arms around her neck, then the two also flew off.

"One of these days, Droopy," Spike muttered and then he was gone as well.

"We have to go as well," Yamcha said as well, much to Krillin's surprise.

"I figured that after what happened to you, you'd want to sit this one out?" he said.

"Nothing would make me more happy," Yamcha said as he fumbled with his torn clothing and his healed stomach, then he looked at Krillin, "But these aren't like the other androids, Krillin. I have to warn Goku. When he impaled me I didn't quite realise it yet but he was able to steal my very life essence. I have to warn them, these androids can steal our energy!"

x

* * *

x

The Z-fighters were flying at high speed towards the west, with below them the city of Sydney giving way to the Blue Mountains, and then agricultural land. Until finally signs of civilization began to grow scarce and the land increasingly dryer and dryer.

It was at this point that one of the androids declared his impatience and that this was going to be the place of their final reckoning. Both androids then halted in midair and let themselves drop to the ground.

"This is far enough," the elderly android called out as the others landed close by, "You have no right to decide where we fight."

No one said anything. Meanwhile Piccolo looked around and began to analyze the terrain. It was deserted alright he thought, but there were way too many means for the androids to escape should they try to. Especially those very ragged hills to the North-East.

On a low lying hill a mile away four others touched down as well.

"They're there alright," Xander said as he looked into the night. Then he looked to the East. It would be dawn soon.

"Why are we waiting here?" Spike said as he reached into his coat for another cigarette, "Shouldn't we be joining the WWF smackdown down there?"

"They don't know us yet," Xander said as he tapped his scouter to activate teamspeak again, "Maybe it's a good idea to keep it that way. Think of it of being in the reserves."

"Suit yourself, Field-Marshall," Spike shrugged, "Of course from up here you can't hear what they're talking about."

"Yeah, that is a problem," Xander echoed.

"Especially considering Superman just asked Gramps how he knows their names," Spike said offhand, then he smirked before lighting his cigarette. Causing Xander to look at Willow.

"Will, can you do something so we can listen in?"

"They're might be a spell," Willow mused, "but I'm not sure, Giles tends to be very weary of me borrowing his books. I… what the hell anyway, lets forget magic and use some brute force sorcery instead."

Willow closed her eyes for a moment, then she opened them and waved her hand.

"Listen."

"…. have followed your actions for a long time. Every time you went to a Budokai, one of us was present, every time you went into battle, one of us was present. Even during your fight with Vegeta, Son Goku."

It was the voice of the elderly android. Then another voice came in, this time over the scouter.

"That was very sloppy, little sister," Belmovekk's voice spoke disapprovingly, "I thought I trained you better then that? Every magic user in Australia by now knows there's an sorcerer around."

"Oops," Willow said sheepishly, "Sorry, but we were short for time and we need to know what's being said."

"Well, then please shut up so I can listen as well," Belmovekk replied.

"You can hear it too?" Buffy asked incredulously, "Did Willow make everybody hear?"

"No, you silly," came the reply, "but as long as you guys don't speak I can hear it over the scouter."

"I….."

Then the elderly android could be heard talking again.

"We studied you and your friends ever since you destroyed the Red Ribbon Army. Just to find out what kind of android it would take to defeat you."

"Just as I thought," Belmovekk's voice said over the teamspeak.

"You hate me that much?" Goku's voice asked surprised.

"Of course," the elderly android said, this time sounding angry for the first time, "You destroyed the Army's chance to free the world and usher in a new age. What should have been a golden age left only Dr. Gero as the sole survivor."

"You sound as if you are Gero," Piccolo said matter of fact.

The android didn't immediately reply, but when he did he sounded his emotionless self again.

"Do not be ridiculous, I am but an android created by Dr. Gero. Dr. Gero on the other hand is dead. He no longer exists."

"I see," Goku's voice said, "Tell me this, were you able to spy on us during the fight on planet Namek?"

"That was not necessary," the android replied, "By observing your actions and abilities during your fight with Vegeta we were able to completely grasp your abilities. We made sure to extrapolate for future growth and adapt our calculations accordingly. Even if you have gotten stronger because of your age you cannot have gotten that much stronger then our predictions would allow for."

"Don't tell me he just said," Buffy said shocked to Xander, "that was _so_ the mother of all Jynxes. Not even 'I hunger for a true challenge' can beat that."

"Is he going to get a rude awakening or what?" Xander chuckled as he began to grin.

"It would be worth seeing it up close," Spike added, "Shall we leave the nose bleeds for some front row seats?"

"I'm fine from where I am, fangless," Xander said, then he signaled the vampire to hush it.

"You didn't research the most important thing," Goku's voice said with such an audible smirk it was reaching smugfactor 10, "You lose."

"What?" the android asked confused.

"Super Saiyan smackdown 2001," Buffy said smiling, "this might be over before it gets morning.

"You made a fatal mistake," Piccolo's voice said equally smug, "You don't know a thing about Super Saiyan."

"Super Saiyan?" the android's voice said confused.

And then Goku showed him.

x

* * *

x

What a clusterfuck, Riley thought as he stood inside the Sydney emergency command center of the Australian Defense Forces. It looked like an ant colony that been shaken as soldiers and civilians hurrying about, looking at maps full with red markers and generally not appearing to be in control of events. But considering that Sydney had just been hard hit and was still burning in lots of places Riley could understand. By now he had grown accustomed to the chaos that followed Slayers and Saiyans wherever they went.

As his American uniform stood out from that of the Australian uniforms people ignored him. Ignoring in the sense that they saw him but didn't think he had anything worthwhile to contribute at this moment. And as far as Riley was concerned he was okay with that. He had also grown accustomed to the chaos of outsiders getting in the way that ensued when Slayers and Saiyans got busy.

It was then that he spotted in a small office the person he was looking for. Going for it he knocked on the window and opened the door.

"Hello, Satiya," Riley said as he entered the office and gave a small nod to his former teacher and mentor sitting there looking distracted, a small device over his left ear with a green visor over his left eye. Could that be the fabled scouter Buffy had told him about?

"Commander Finn," Belmovekk said as he looked up and tapped his scouter, "I, uh, what, um, why are you not in Sunnydale?"

"Did you really think I would sit this one out back Stateside?" Riley grinned as he closed the door behind him, then he leaned over and whispered into his right ear, "Satiya."

"Do not Satiya me, commander," Belmovekk said cross, "You were supposed to be back in your country. You being here complicates things."

"Did you really think I would let Buffy go into battle with these fabled androids and not be there to back her up?" Riley snorted with a big grin.

"Exactly why your being here complicates things," Belmovekk said as he got up from his chair and looked outside into the night, where in the distance the first signs of a new dawn was approaching, "You two have grown very attached to each other. And while I have no objection to you as her suitor, she does need a clear head in battle. You should have stayed at home."

"Not going to happen, Satiya" Riley grinned as he stood to attention.

"I suppose not," Belmovekk sighed annoyed, "So how did you come here? I thought you were placed in command of all 'special training' forces back home?"

"I pulled a few favors," Riley replied, "So now Jamison is in command. I took over his billet as commander of our Australian Taskforce. We're here to train the Australian special forces and help the Australians in case things went sour. And by the looks of it things did go sour. What the hell happened?"

Belmovekk gave a quick heads up about what happened in Sydney and was now going on somewhere in the Australian outback. Upon hearing that Riley insisted that they should go there, using the instant transmission.

"We will do no such thing, Commander Finn," Belmovekk said as he turned around and looked at Riley. You will stay here or by Aldur, I will instant transmission you back to the SGC and tell Warleader Hammond to put you into the brig. Is that clear, Commander Finn?"

"As crystal, Satiya," Riley replied.

"Now that is cleared up, tell me about your command, Commander Finn," Belmovekk said and gestured towards a map on the wall, "What do you have and whe…."

Belmovekk stopped mid sentence as he touched his scouter and turned around.

"I have to go, commander," he said hurried, "I can not just disappear here in plain view so you have to excuse me."

Belmovekk was about to walk out of the office when Riley reached out and stopped him.

"Please, take me with you," he said pleading, "Something's wrong, right?"

Belmovekk put two fingers on his forehead, wordlessly mouthed three letters, pointed with the other hand towards Riley and then out there, towards the Pacific. Away from the action. At which point Riley got the hint and backed down.

"I understand," he said let down, "please, keep her safe."

"She's my daughter now, commander, it goes without saying," Belmovekk said stone-faced, then he smiled, "in a way it is good that you are here now. Keep an eye on these people, commander, too many of them died already when they tried to interfere. Keep them off our backs so we can do our job."

Then Belmovekk gave Riley a slap on the shoulder.

"You are in charge now, Commander Finn," he said quasi-cheerful and then he rushed away.

Great! Riley thought as he found himself alone in an office in charge of a crisis full of terror-stricken Ozzies. How could this day get any worse?

He soon regretted even thinking that, forever careful not to jinx his good fortune any further, as a certain heiress to a vast industrial fortune, all-round scientific genius and proud mother of a baby that she carried in her arms, came straight towards his office.

x

* * *

x

As he emerged on the roof of the emergency command center Belmovekk regretted having been so strict with Commander Finn. But he had little choice. He was in no condition to take on the androids, hell, he was in no condition to even take on Yamcha. There was no doubting the good major's heart, but there was being outclassed and there was being really outclassed. For his own safety, and for that of Buffy it was best to keep the good major here.

Unfortunately for Belmovekk the roof wasn't as deserted as he hoped for, with helicopters constantly using the building's helipad. Now he had to find an air vent, air conditioner or just something to hide behind. Damn his need to be outdoors for instant transmission.

Looking around he found a secluded spot on the roof behind a large air conditioner unit. Looking left to right for a last check to see if nobody would see him Belmovekk brought two fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes to concentrate. Using his senses he easily found them. And damn did they need him. Just as he was about to jump he suddenly felt a hand grab his shoulder.

"Oh no you don't!"

x

* * *

x

Yamcha and Krillin had arrived at the scene of battle only to find Goku already locked in combat with one of the androids, the fat one by the looks of it.

"What took you so long?" Piccolo asked off hand as they landed next to him.

"Is that Goku?" Krillin asked as he looked up into the sky where two dots were moving around fast.

"Yeah," Tien said exhilarated, "Goku's cleaning house up there. Those androids don't stand a chance. Super Saiyan's awesome."

Meanwhile up on the hill the Scoobies were watching the fight as well.

"Why hasn't he finished the fight?" Buffy said confused.

"What?" Willow asked her friend.

"He's dragging this fight way too long," Buffy said as she shook her head, "I've seen at least half a dozen chances where he could have finished it but didn't. Throwing some half winded punch instead."

"Maybe he's like you, Buff," Xander grinned, "You like to play with your 'food'. You're the only one I know who would go to a fight wearing high heels."

"I'm wearing sensible shoes right now, aren't I?" Buffy said as she checked her sneakers, then she rolled her eyes and pointed upwards to the fight, "He's not like me! He may get excited and carried away but when it matters he's not kidding. And I'm telling you, there is something wrong with the Simple One."

Xander gave her a hard look.

"I have a hard time believing that…," he tried to say when Spike interrupted him.

"Slayer's right, there is something wrong with Captain Crunch up there," he said, then taking a puff from his cigarette he continued, "there's something wrong with his body temperature and his heart rate has gone up 20%."

"He's fighting," Xander countered, "he's exerting himself, of course his temperature and heart rate will go up."

"No you dolt," Spike said annoyed, "even in a fight your temperature stays more or less the same because you sweat a lot. It helps to cool the body off. He on the other hand is sweating like a Turkish bath house but his core temperature has gone up more then a degree."

"You can see that from up here?" Xander asked incredulously.

"Always could up to a point," Spike shrugged, then he threw away the butt of his cigarette, "but ever since them bitches have been tinkering with me I see stuff I don't even want to see."

Xander was intrigued but Spike cut him off.

"Don't ask, Droopy, you really don't want to know."

"LOOK!" Willow suddenly shouted. The fat android was suddenly smitten to the ground into a crater of his own making. Meanwhile above Goku began to gather in his energy for what looked like a killing attack.

"See, all is well with the world," Xander sighed as he relaxed, "You guys had me worried for no….."

Goku unleashed his massive energy attack and fired it at the fat android. But instead of dodging the attack, or putting up a credible defense the android just held up his right hand and grinned.

Then to their horror the fiery orb of blue death that should have exploded upon impact began to shrink as it hit the android's hand, shrink until there was nothing left but an android grinning from ear to ear.

"Did you see that?" Xander said aghast.

"Bloody hell," Spike said as his jaw dropped.

"He absorbed the attack," Willow said ash white, "he absorbed the attack!"

"I told you something was wrong," Buffy said, "I told ya."

"Me and my big mouth," Xander whimpered as the tide of the battle changed. As if he was totally reinvigorated the fat android launched himself at Goku again and the fight began again. Only this time it was Goku who was on the receiving end of a hug can of whoop ass.

Goku got a merciless beating until this time it was he who got smacked down to the ground, only just slowing himself down enough not to hit the ground. Panting heavily he glared at the android defiantly, then he brought his hands to his side for the Kamehameha move.

"He's got to be kidding, right," Spike said, "he just fed the android an energizer bunny and now he's going to do it again?"

"Oh no," Buffy said aghast, "look!"

Instead of gathering in his energy, Goku let what little energy he had slip as he clutched his chest and began to pant some more.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Xander said puzzled.

"It's like…, it's like….," Willow tried to say as she knew what was wrong but couldn't express it in the right words, "it's like he has an heart attack."

"The heart disease," Buffy said, "The one which he was supposed to get. The one the Mayor had unleashed on Belmo."

"What, now? A year later?" Xander said surprised, "Talk about shitty timing."

They could see Krillin threw something at Goku, most likely a senzu, which the warrior immediately ate.

But it didn't work, as Goku remained weak. Then they heard Gohan's voice.

"It's the heart disease," the kid yelled in panic.

"But how?" Krillin's voice spoke, "Didn't he take the medicine?"

"He never got sick," Gohan's voice replied, "So he never took it."

"You guys have way too much fun at my expense," Xander said softly as he briefly glanced upwards to the sky, then he looked at Buffy, "Custer just got ambushed. It's time to bring in the rest of the cavalry."

"Uh, Belmo, now might be a good time to come," Buffy spoke into the scouter but there was no reply. Meanwhile the fight had resumed as Goku got hammered. And then he fell to the ground, no longer a Super Saiyan. The android came by and then grabbed him by the throat and grinned.

Below Goku's friends saw this as their cue to jump into the battle, only to be confronted by the other android.

"This is our chance," Xander said as the other android was busy confronting Goku's friends. Three fighters took off and raced towards the fat android holding Goku.

They were close, very close, when the other android noticed them, but he was unable to hold both groups at once. They were going to make it, they would save Goku.

Only for somebody else to step in and suckerpunch the fat android away from Goku.

"Oh no you don't," the newcomer said, both to the android and to the approaching Scoobies.

It was Vegeta.

x

* * *

x

As Piccolo lead the charge to help Goku he quickly found the other android in his path.

"You cannot proceed an inch past here," the elderly android said in that flat tone of his, "Or do you wish to test me?"

"Sure, Piccolo said as he began to smirk. Then he attacked and kicked.

Only to eat laser, shooting from the android's eyes, as he easily evaded Piccolo's kick like it was in slow motion.

As the android's laser beams struck Piccolo, the Namek fell backwards to the ground, causing Faith to yell.

"Piccolo!" she yelled, then she charged the android, only to come to a full sudden stop as the android's hand palm was just an inch from her face.

"I do not know you, young girl," the android said flatly, "but if you value your life, don't be a fool like him."

"You don't scare me, you don't scare me at all," Faith said defiantly.

"Then you die," the android said and began to grin. But before he could do something however something else drew his attention.

"NOOOO…." the android yelled, his flat voice gone and replaced by impotent rage. Faith looked aside and saw B. and her friends charging to the rescue. He couldn't stop both them and team Scooby.

Ha, she thought, now you wished you had brought some extra robots with you, hunk of junk!

But before B. and her friends could reach Goku, something else did as the fat android came by sailing through the air.

Everybody else looked the other way and saw Vegeta standing there.

"Oh no you don't," the Saiyan prince said defiantly, as he stood over Goku's ailing body, clad in a skintight catsuit with white armor across his chest.

"Kakarot dies when _I_ say so, nobody else," Vegeta said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Vegeta," some calledd in unison, upon which Piccolo stood up. Gohan came by his side.

"Are you alright?" he asked worried.

"That kind of attack wouldn't hurt me," the Namek said like nothing had happened, "No matter how strong they are. I was just taking a fall, causing distraction so Belmovekk's kids could save Goku."

"If I were you I'd stick to that story, Jolly Green," Faith snorted incredulously.

"It's the truth," the Namek said, sounding just a little bit insulted.

"If you say so," Faith snorted again, then she saw someone standing behind Vegeta, "hey, look who also decided to show up."

It was Belmovekk.

Meanwhile Vegeta stood over Goku's panting body.

"Idiot!" he said contemptuously, "the moment you noticed something was wrong you should have stepped aside, not go Super Saiyan. I need you alive, Kakarot. So I can kill you."

With contemptuous ease Vegeta kicked Goku away into the arms of Piccolo. Who captured him with equal contemptuous ease.

"Take him away to his medicine," the Saiyan prince said contemptuously.

"Father," Gohan said as he saw his father hang limp in Piccolo's arms, "Give him to me, Piccolo, I'll take him home."

"No let me," Yamcha said as he stepped forward, "I'm pretty much useless here anyway."

"Be sure to take some of the medicine yourself," Piccolo said as he handed Goku over to Yamcha.

"Only if there is any left," Yamcha said as he put Goku over his shoulder, "Belmovekk had a lot last year."

"He made some new to make up for what he took," Piccolo said, "so take some yourself. Just to be safe."

As Yamcha took off some of his friends shouted praise and good lucks after him. As he did the fat android seemed like he was about to go after him, but Belmovekk stepped in his way.

"Oh no you don't," he said shaking his head. The fat android began to snarl but then the other one called.

"Leave him, he is of no concern," the elderly android said, "we can always find him again if we need to. Let us take care of the others first."

The fat android didn't look pleased but he obeyed the other one and stood down.

"Who are you, stranger?" the elderly android asked Belmovekk, "I have seen the others in Sydney before but we have not met so far."

"Oh, I have been looking forward to this day for a long day," Belmovekk said, "For three years I have hunted your creator."

The two androids looked at each other.

"So the suspicions were right after all," the elderly android said to the fat one, "somebody was out to get us."

Then Belmovekk reached inside his shirt and pulled forth a chain with two little dickeys hanging from them. Upon seeing them the eyes of the elderly android grew big.

"The diskeys," he said aghast, "of…., of…., are they….."

"Say hello to Android #14," Belmovekk said as he tapped one of the dickeys, "And say hello to Android #15. To bad we could not find the mangled remains of Android #13 after Yamcha finished him off. But if we did we would not be having this chat now would we?"

"What's he trying to do?" Tien whispered to Piccolo.

"My guess is goading the android into doing something stupid," Piccolo whispered back, "just look at him, the fat one's puzzled but the other one's almost livid with rage."

Before the elderly android could do something the other one intervened.

"#20," he said as he bowed, "please allow me to destroy Vegeta?"

Annoyed at being interrupted the android called #20 looked at the other one.

"You are greedy, #19," he said, his voice back to monotone flat, "you already took a lot of energy from Goku and now you want Vegeta's as well?"

Android #19 didn't reply, he just smiled amiably.

"Go ahead," Android #20 said, "but the others are mine, especially this one."

Android #20 nodded towards Belmovekk.

"Oh, I will be waiting for you," Belmovekk smirked back, "Tin can #20."

Giving the fighters some space the others withdrew to a more safe distance.

"I don't get it," Krillin said, "Future Saiyan said that without Goku we would all die. The conditions have changed but yet here we are, without Goku."

"We still have Belmovekk," Tien said, "He can also go Super Saiyan and already had the disease. Plus we get to see Vegeta get hammered. From where I'm standing things aren't looking that bad."

"Even if Belmovekk cannot defeat them, it's no longer certain that we will all die," Piccolo added, "history has been changed so much from what Future Saiyan said it would, anything is now possible."

Meanwhile Buffy went to Belmovekk, followed by Xander and Spike.

"So you finally decided to show up?" Buffy said chiding, then she nodded towards Vegeta, "Did you bring him along?"

"I may have had something to do with it," Belmovekk shrugged.

Buffy looked at the two androids.

"Those two wig me out," she said, "Especially the Debarge wannabe. The fat one, he's like the others, but that one, he almost registers on the Demon scale."

"You have no idea how much you just hit the nail on the head, young lady," Belmovekk said, then he reached out, touched her on her forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. Upon which Buffy's eyes grew big as saucers for a moment.

"Ew, ew, ew!" she said shocked, then she got a little angry, "Why on Earth did you have to keep that a secret?"

"And ruin a possible surprise when it could be helpful?" the Saiyan shrugged.

"I swear you just keep secrets for the hell of it," Buffy muttered aggrieved.

Meanwhile Android #19 was facing off with Vegeta, the two staring each other down in fighting stances.

"From what little I've heard and seen you guys aren't as strong as I was led to believe," Vegeta smirked at the android, "the only thing I have to be careful of is that you absorb energy through your hand palms."

"It would appear that you know quite a lot about us," Android #19 smirked back, "but you forget, it works both ways. We have analyzed your fighting techniques and tactics in depth."

"Puhlease," Vegeta snorted unimpressed, "Then why were you so surprised when Kakarot turned Super Saiyan? That means you don't have any data about when we faced Freeza and today."

"Oh god," Spike muttered annoyed as he heard Vegeta talk, "he's going to bore him, and us, to death."

"You can't understand us Saiyans through mere calculations," Vegeta meanwhile continued, upon which Android #19 just let out a small snort. Then Vegeta lowered his guard and leaned forward a little.

"There is something I want to know," he asked arrogantly, "do androids feel fear?"

Then Vegeta let out a scream and transformed.

Into Super Saiyan.

As waves of chi blasted the Australian Outback and the onlookers everybody reacted differently.

"Him too?" Android #20 said with growing nervousness.

"WHAT THE….?" Goku's friends reacted in shock.

Belmovekk and the Scoobies on the other hand seemed unperturbed. Something which didn't go unnoticed with Piccolo.

"You knew!" he said accusingly, "You knew he could go Super! And you didn't tell us!"

"Define know?" Belmovekk said as he played innocent, "We neither saw nor heard from Vegeta that he could. But if we suspected it, well….."

"I'll kick your ass for that," Piccolo said before regaining his cool, "when this is over."

Then he muttered something under his breath that to Faith, who stood close by Piccolo, sounded suspiciously much like 'unreliable treacherous son of a Saiyan something'.

"But that can't be," Krillin said still dumbfounded, "He can't be a Super Saiyan!"

"Uh, yes he can, shortie," Spike grinned, "he's doing it right now."

"But you have to be pure of heart," Krillin retorted, "Vegeta's not pure."

"Sure he is," Tien said as his eyes narrowed, "Pure evil."

"The only thing I wanted to be was to be strong," Vegeta said, his golden aura blazing around him, "I trained hard, but in the end I reached my limits. It was then that I got angry at myself, that I awoke the ability in myself to reach for Super Saiyan. I rejoiced, as the time to finally surpass Kakarot and Movekk had come."

"By our kind green God, he's really going to do the full speech, isn't he?" Xander sighed in disgust.

"Sodding wanker, wouldn't last ten seconds in the Circuit," Spike muttered equally disgusted, then he yelled, "Get on with it!"

Vegeta shot an angry glance at Spike, but Spike wasn't the only one to express his annoyance.

"Enough talk," Android #20 said impatiently, "Even though you have changed, you are still no match for us. You will wind up just like Son Goku."

Android #19 took that as his cue and attacked, launching himself full speed at Vegeta. Striking the Saiyan prince directly on his chin, causing him to stagger backwards a couple of feet before steadying himself.

Instead of counter attacking Vegeta began to grin again as he wiped away a small trickle of blood coming from his lip.

"Was that the best you could do?" he said contemptuously, "I figured as much. I should warn you though, when I go Super I tend to become more violent. And a little excited as well. Let me ask you this, you don't feel pain, right? Lucky you."

Then Vegeta kicked Android #19 in his gut with so much force it seemed a small wonder his foot didn't come out at its back. Next up was an elbow strike that knocked the wind out of the android followed up by another kick that sent the android crashing into the ground. It almost looked like the android was unconscious as it lay flat on his back.

"No way!" Android #20 said aghast as Vegeta slowly walked up to Android #19.

"What's the matter?" he said smirking, "Have I upset some garbage puppets' plan?"

With an agility that seemed impossible for someone as fat as he was Android #19 jumped up again and launched himself at Vegeta. But Vegeta let himself fall on his back and as the android hit the empty space above him he lashed out with his feet and kicked him again, sending him into the sky, where dawn was finally taking place.

Going after the android Vegeta met his opponent in the air and punched him in the face. Causing a small trickle of fluid to come from the android's mouth.

"You're well made," Vegeta sniggered, "Is that blood or is it oil?"

#19 didn't reply. At least not verbally, instead he shot laser beams from his eyes. But again he hit only empty air as Vegeta somersaulted over him and knocked him to the ground again, causing the android to hit the ground just where Goku's friends had been as they evaded the incoming android.

The android's impact created a small crater the size of a swimming pool, the android lying in its center, looking upwards with glazed eyes as Vegeta touched down near his feet.

But as he did the android again flung himself at Vegeta, grabbing the Saiyan Prince's wrists in an iron grip.

"I have you now!" the android said triumphantly as he began to laugh, "There is no more escape for you, I'll! never let you go!"

"Dumbass," Spike said as he shook his head.

"Oh really?" Vegeta said smirking. Then he jumped up and put his feet on the android's face, trying to push himself off from the android's grip.

"Don't let go," Vegeta said contemptuously as both fighters were now straining to the max, "Now I understand. Not only do you take energy, you…. Add…. It… To…. Your… Own!"

"I….. Won't….. Let….. Go!" the android grunted, his speech being made hard by virtue of having Vegeta's feet on his face.

"Then…. Don't?" Vegeta grunted heavily as he strained himself some more.

And then it happened. With two loud pops the android's hands broke off and Vegeta was free again, holding two hands in his hands. As the Saiyan Prince landed on his feet again Android #19 stared in shock at the stumps where his hands used to be. There was little to no blood to be seen as underneath a thin skin there was only electronics and wirings and no flesh."

"These are more R2D2 then Terminator," Xander commented to Buffy.

As Android #20 looked on in horror and Android #19 at the remains of his arms Vegeta pulled Android #19's hands off his wrists and examined them. As he did he saw a small round clear plastic circle in the middle of android's #19's hand palms.

"So this is the part of your hand that you use to steal energy, like a common vampire," he said, both impressed and abhorred, then he dropped the hands, "You've taken a lot of my energy, but now you can't take any more. So android, I ask again, even though you're a puppet, do you feel pain?"

Android #19 didn't reply. Instead he got up, jumped out of the crater and began to run away, almost crying out like a little girl.

"Damn you!" Android #20 called out as Vegeta slowly rose into the air, his golden chi aura blazing again and his right hand aimed at the retreating Android #19.

"Relax, no need to impatient," Vegeta grinned confidently as he gathered in his energy, "You'll get your turn as well."

Then to the horror of the onlookers he gathered in so much energy that scouters were going haywire and those who used chi sense began to recoil in horror.

"Take this!" Vegeta yelled as he fired off his attack, "SUPER VEGETA BIG BANG ATTACK!"

The fireball that Vegeta launched at Android #19 was small in size but packed a mighty punch. All onlookers had to erect shields to shield them from the blastwave that sped across the Australian Outback as the rising sun was blocked out in intensity by the explosion.

DOOOM!

After the dust had settled there was nothing left of Android #19 until something small fell from the sky.

It was android's #19's head.

Smirking triumphantly Vegeta turned around and faced the remaining android.

"Our calculation's were wrong," it said with a voice trembling with anger, "But it doesn't matter. You still cannot win."

Vegeta began to smirk some more.

"Let's find out, shall we?" he said and landed close by the android.

"Maybe I should take this one, my prince," Belmovekk called out, causing Vegeta to look over his shoulder.

"This does not concern you, Movekk," Vegeta said angry, "I command you to stand down."

"By the rights of our people I demand the right to fight one of those androids in holy combat!" Belmovekk said as he raised his voice in anger, "For three years I have hunted them and their mad creator down, I have made sacrifices for this, I have sacrificed others, and I have let down others to do so."

For a moment Belmovekk glanced towards Faith before continuing.

"But this is the moment of glory. This is the day of reckoning. In order for my sacrifices to have meaning I demand the right to take that android apart."

Everybody looked from Belmovekk to Vegeta. Was this some kind of Saiyan thing? And why the submissive air by Belmovekk?

"I hear your grievances, Movekk, and they are just," he said sternly, "But I am also your prince. As our leader I have the right deal with the enemy as I see fit. And I see fit to deny your challenge. Rest assured that you shall have your reckoning, delivered by my hands."

All eyes returned back to Belmovekk, as his face underwent a thousand emotions in short order. Would he defy Vegeta? Would the two Saiyans attack each other leaving the android the laughing third?

"It shall be as you say, my prince," Belmovekk finally said as he stepped backwards.

"Your loyalty will not be forgotten, Movekk," Vegeta said as he faced the android again, then he de-transformed, "This is your chance, puppet. A lot of my energy has been sucked out. Take your chance. Attack!"

Instead of attacking the android just stood there. Seeing that he was reticent Vegeta began to taunt the android some more.

"What happened to your confidence, puppet? You just boasted that I stood no chance? I think you're wrong, so do your worst."

"It doesn't matter how strong you've become," the android said angry, "It won't be enough to defeat the androids!"

"Speaking of yourself in the plural now?" Vegeta snorted, "My, aren't we a little full of our self? All I'm hearing is sour grapes."

The android didn't reply, instead he began to grind his teeth in angered frustration, then he took off and flew away at high speed towards the north-east.

As he did Vegeta turned around towards Krillin.

"Quick, give me a senzu," he yelled.

"Huh?" the small fighter said surprised.

"Do you want him to get away or not?" Vegeta yelled in frustration.

Before Krillin could react Belmovekk grabbed Willow and turned towards Buffy and Xander.

"Come, he's exhausted!"

"NO!" Vegeta yelled as Belmovekk took off in pursuit of the android, followed by Buffy and Xander, leaving only Spike behind.

"I have to say," Spike said admiring to Vegeta, "even though you're a git, that was a magnificent bluff if I ever saw one. "

And then he took off as well.

x

* * *

x

How could Gero have miscalculated so much?

These thoughts went through Android #20 as he hid himself in a series of hills and rocky outgrowths.

In hindsight the answer seemed simple though. Gero had violated one of the cardinal rules in science, he had failed to gather enough statistical data to base his statistics on. And in the absence of enough statistical data any statistical data on future developments would suffer from ever increasing amounts of inaccuracy.

But it was not like Dr. Gero had had much choice in the matter. Up until now his only weapon in the fight against Son Goku had been stealth. He had to remain hidden at all costs. That's why Dr. Gero had only sent his androids out to do the spying for him.

And some had been lost. More then the good doctor had hoped for. Androids #3, #10, #13, #14 and #15. The first early on in the spying process, the second during the fight between Goku and Vegeta and the others somewhere last year, circumstances still unknown, until the mystery Saiyan had boasted being responsible for their loss. It was the loss of android #10 which had caused Dr. Gero to break any knowledge of his whereabouts between androids. While #11 had returned with vital data on the Goku/Vegeta fight, Dr. Gero had been scared shitless that in the aftermath Goku and especially that abominable Capsule Corp. whore would find #10's body and use the information inside to track him. It had caused Dr. Gero to yet again move his laboratory.

That's why he didn't move after the last three androids disappeared. The loss of one would make it impossible for the other two to report back to him and still not be catastrophical enough to enable Goku and the Capsule Corp. whore to track back to him. And in the event of a loss of one or two, the survivor(s) would run to ground and hide.

That was the theory at least. And it seemed to have worked as the mystery Saiyan had not found him. Plus the doctor had factored in some pretty generous potential power increases for Son Goku even if things had gone exactly as predicted for the Saiyan.

No, it fell apart because Dr. Gero had failed to predict something as radical as the Super Saiyan transformation. That and the sudden appearance of a whole new batch of friends, all of which as powerful as Goku's friends, maybe even more so. Chief amongst them the mystery Saiyan.

In hindsight it seemed that it would have been prudent to continue the surveillance of Son Goku after the Saiyan invasion. More data would have allowed for greater contingency planning. Of course hindsight is 20/20 backvision, something which Dr. Gero didn't have and thus Android #20 had to make due with what he had.

It was when he contemplating the good doctor's failure when Android #20 noticed that they were looking for him. Three chi tails came to a stop in the air above the hills he was hiding in, then they divided off and went their separate ways, coming down to look for him. As one of them came over close by Gero could see it was one of the newcomers. And he was wearing a scouter.

Gero had known about the scouters ever since the battle between Goku and the Saiyans. His androids had failed to bring one back, they were all destroyed, but they did report that the Saiyans had been able to track movement by detecting and measuring chi with them. And rumor had it that the Capsule Corp. whore had one. It only stood to reason that Son Goku and his friends would get access to such technology.

Now it wasn't that Gero's androids would emit a high chi signature using their technology. But it stood to reason that if you could configure a device to detect extreme chi signatures, converting one to scan for extreme mechanical power signatures would be child's play. So the good doctor had gone the extra mile to make sure his current androids where extremely well shielded as well to emit zero signatures of any kind.

And by the looks of it his shielding seemed to have paid off as the teen passed him over.

Hehehe, good, he still stood a chance. Now if only he could stock up on power before taking on the big Saiyans he could still turn this to his advantage. He had miscalculated with both Son Goku and Vegeta only to suffer a rude awakening when they both went Super Saiyan. Not with this mystery Saiyan. No, this time he was going to assume Super Saiyan capability as well until proven otherwise.

More chi trails came to a stop over the hills he was hiding in. So Vegeta and the others had come as well. Good, let the games begin!

x

* * *

x

After the betrayal of Movekk and him practically having to beg that worm Krillin for a senzu Vegeta was in a foul mood. Seeing the veritable maze of crevasses and other means for that wind up doll to hide himself in, Vegeta's mood didn't improve. Vegeta landed on top of one of the highest hills and looked around.

"Where are you?" he shouted defiantly, "Show yourself!"

"Damn that wind up doll," he snarled after getting no reaction, "He's using the terrain to hide himself in."

Having one more look around Vegeta took off again into the air.

"Well, I just have to have to make it so he can't hide any longer," Vegeta said as he powered himself up and stretched one arm into the air. Above the open hand palm a large orb of glowing death began to form.

Two miles away Belmovekk carrying Willow on his back saw Vegeta's imminent pyrotechnics.

"He can't be serious?" Willow said shocked.

"Vegeta is anything but not serious," Belmovekk replied, "the idiot will be the death of us all, just like his father was."

Back with Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince launched his attack to flatten the surroundings and drive Android #20 into the open.

Of course it didn't quite work as planned.

Just before the attack hit the ground Android #20 stepped right in front of it with both hands outstretched, as if to greet the attack.

"HAHA!" the android yelled as he absorbed the fireball into his hand palm receptors until there was nothing left. Then he kissed his hand and threw the kiss towards Vegeta.

"Thanks for the energy, sucker," he yelled, then he was gone before Vegeta could reach him. As Vegeta wailed in angry frustration, Android #20 observed the Saiyan prince from his hiding place. The Saiyan prince seemed to be totally reliant on sensing chi to find him. Which Android #20 had none. Which meant that he only really had to fear the other group's scouters. So far they seemed unable to find him, but they were still an unknown quantity. Who knows, it might even be a case for them to tweak some parameters and suddenly he was toast.

The more Android #20 thought about it, the more he thought it was prudent to return to Gero's laboratory. He didn't want to do what he feared had to be done. Anything but. But he didn't have any choice. He was currently both outgunned and outmanned.

Sneaking away Android #20 made his way through the maze and the various fighters looking for him.

Then he came upon the perfect target of opportunity. It would give him more pick up. And best of all, it would net him a scouter.

x

* * *

x

"Asshole Saiyan asshole," Buffy muttered frustrated as yet another crevasse turned out to be devoid of anything robotic, "He just had to jazz the robot lord of the Sith up."

She had witnessed Vegeta's stupid action as he fed insane amounts of his chi to jack up the android. She knew Vegeta wasn't like Goku, or Belmo, like in being reasonable (for a Saiyan), but she always thought she had some kind of special connection with the guy. It was Vegeta who had brought her out of her funk after the death of Angel. It was Vegeta who from time to time snuck over to have a spar. It was Vegeta who had helped her come to terms with being what she was. In that sense she was probably one of the few people in this world, or any other for that matter, who put him on a pedestal of sorts.

And then he ruined everything by becoming a Super Saiyan.

When she and Belmo had hitched a ride with Vegeta after their battle with Anubis and the Majin she had noticed the change in his behavior. Instead of being an insufferable asshole who occasionably had his moments he'd become a smug insufferable asshole who was so full of himself that she was amazed that there was still room inside his skull for a brain.

To her surprise Belmo had immediately adopted a submissive stance she hadn't seen in a long time, dropping onto a knee, kissing Vegeta's ass. When she confronted him about it he merely shrugged, stating that as long as they needed his royal pain in the ass it never hurt to kiss said royal pain in the ass. All the more now that they suspected his royal pain in the ass was the latest member of the Super Saiyan club. Number four after Forest Gump, Belmo and Xander's crazy porno chick. And right now Buffy was fairly certain that in a toss up between Xander's crazy porno chick and Vegeta the winner of Crazyfest 2001 wasn't that certain.

Scratch that, Xander's crazy porno chick would have to appy again next year.

"Stupid Saiyan asshole," Buffy muttered again as she checked behind a large rock, "Should have finished it when he had the chance."

"Bellyaching is not going to help us find the android, young lady," a voice said in her scouter.

"Stuff it!," she replied as she searched on, "Here, I'll put the mute on so you don't have to hear me complain!"

Buffy pressed her scouter and engaged the mute function.

"Stupid Belmo," she muttered, "If I want to complain then I…."

Suddenly she stopped complaining as her Spidey senses began to tingle. It was faint, very faint, but considering there was probably little organic left in this guy it was either their missing android or some outback demon.

She wanted to bring her hand to her scouter to de-activate the mute when something slammed into her. Legs wrapped themselves around her hips, an arm pinned her arms against her body and another one wrapped itself around her neck, making it impossible for her to scream.

"Mmmmmm!" was all she could do.

"Sssssh," the android whispered in that flat but god awful old person voice of his, "just give in, little girl, it will all be over soon."

Ew, ew, EW!

And then it happened. It was like sitting in the bath and pulling the plug, feeling the water go down the drain. Only this time you felt like going down the drain with it.

"Just give in," the android whispered again, "Give in and it will be over, little girl."

x

* * *

x

Faith had been searching hard for the missing android and she had been doing it alongside Jolly Green's side. In a way it felt strange going into battle being part of a different outfit. But she had been part of this group ever since Adam. Oh, nowadays she got on perfectly with B. and the others. But they weren't part of her life any more.

After the Adam affair she and Jolly Green had left America again. After a short stop with Wesley in LA of course, who was after all technically still her Watcher, to make sure he got his fake reports to the Council straight. Not that they would pay much attention to her though at the moment, as a minor civil war seemed to be taking place inside the Council as various factions were vying for power after the poor demise of its former leader, Quentin Travers.

Instead of returning to their former haunts where Piccolo had trained her they went to China instead, as Piccolo wanted to fulfill his promise to Gohan that they would all train together again. It was an interesting half year to say the least. When Piccolo showed up with Faith in his wake Goku didn't bat an eye, taking it all in stride. Gohan turned out to be a such nice little boy who really should be allowed to be that small boy, neither the savior to humanity that his father and Piccolo needed him to be, nor the academic that his mother wanted him to be. At least not until he was in his late teens.

His mother was batshit insane though. But luckily Faith knew this beforehand, from various stories she had picked up and of course, from the extensive stories Jolly Green had told her. The message was clear, stay on the good side of this woman and be somewhere else when her bad side was showing! It was hard since Faith was by all sense and purposes a school drop out and this woman worshiped education like it was the Second Coming.

She thought she managed okay though, even though Gohan did hint that his mother used Faith as an object lesson as to what happens when you failed to get an education. But that was okay as far as Faith was concerned because she had grown to like the little boy. Plus she shamelessly used him to steal stuff from his mother's kitchen.

Yeah overall it had been fun, but the net effect of having spent more then half a year of hanging out with Goku was that now she felt more Z fighter then Scoobie. It was a chapter of her life that she felt was closed now.

So it came as quite a surprise to Faith that one minute she was looking into a hole in the ground, the next moment she was back in Sunnydale.

Standing on the ground of the obliterated Sunnydale High, as high above her a battle was taking place, Faith felt utterly dejected.

"Not again?" she said as she looked around. Making sure that nothing was wrapped around her neck she began to check out her surroundings. It looked exactly like the dreams that Adam had sent her way.

"Very funny," she yelled, but other then the continued fighting going on high in the air there came no reply.

And then it happened again.

Behind her came the sound of that infernal giggling again. And as she turned around she was back into the underground chambers of the Initiative again. The abrupt change of scenery caused Faith to reach around her neck again

"Boss, I swear, if you _ever_ yank me by the neck then so help me, I will take a piss on your grave," she said loud. Again there was no reply.

As she made her way to the ruined corridors she came upon the first clue this was a different kind of dream. Lying on a cushion on a pedestal was the severed head of Android #19. It smiled at her as she passed it, getting a major case of the creepy as she did. Then before she enter another corridor it began to sing aloud.

"Mr. Hanky, the Christmas Poo, he loves me and he loves you. Mr. Hanky, the Christmas Poo, he…."

Leaving the singing android head behind as quickly as possible, some things were just _way_ too creepy, Faith stepped into a different room.

It was the room where she had fought Adam.

Only this time there was no Adam. Nor the Mayor's tail wrapping itself around her neck.

It was B., and she had that, that 'thing' that they were looking for, wrapped around herself as it was choking the piss out of her. And with not much time left by the looks of it. As she stepped into the room B. looked at her with big pleading eyes, but unable to speak as the android had her mouth covered.

And yet….

 _Help me._

She may not have been able to speak but somehow B.'s voice came in loud and clear. Okay, maybe not that loud. As loud as somebody could sound when a technological vampire was sucking the very life out of her.

 _Help me._

Before she could respond Faith was back in the Australian outback. Looking around to get her baring she lifted herself in the air. Something was wrong with B.. It was the only explanation for that funktastic daydream.

Faith looked around and extended her senses as far as she could. And then she found it. A faint life sign getting fainter by the second. Without thinking she took off.

x

x

Belmovekk was getting increasingly pissed off. Not only did this final android continue to elude him, had Vegeta's ego grown to even greater magnitudes of arrogance, but to top it all off, the new scouters with their latest android detection software, courtesy of Bulma, were next to useless. Except as an expensive communication device.

"Damn that Gero for making those androids so well shielded!" he said angry.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," a voice said frowning behind him.

A voice laden with harmonic overtones.

As he turned around Belmovekk looked into his mirror image, dressed in gold armor again.

"It is you again," he said after making sure the mute function was engaged on his scouter, "I am busy, so if you have an elsewhere to be, that would be great."

The Goa'uld specter shook his head while looking disappointed.

"My mass murdering Saiyan friend," Amūn said frowning, "I live inside your mind. Where could I go even if I wanted to?"

"I do not care, have a swim in my memories or something," Belmovekk said with growing exasperation, "now is not the time."

The dead Goa'uld began to laugh.

"Oh, I think it is," he laughed, then he casually leaned forward, "Have you heard from Buffy lately?"

Belmovekk wanted to say something, then he stopped and tapped his scouter. Only to have his eyes grow big. Then he activated the scouter's speaker again.

"It's attacking Buffy! Everybody, it's attacking Buffy!"

Then Belmovekk flew away in a blaze of golden chi as he transformed into Super Saiyan.

"You're welcome," Amūn called after the disappearing Saiyan, then he folded his arms across his chest, looked the other way, and began to hum, "Mr. Hankey, the Christmass Poo…."

x

x

The girl had a lot more energy then he had given her credit, Android #20 thought as he continued draining her. Already she had taken longer to drain then he had expected. Normally he'd relish this kind of opportunity. But not when he was pressed for time.

"Shhhh," he said again as he tried to goad the girl into giving up, "just give up and it will be over soon."

Rather sooner then later, bitch, #20 thought impatiently.

Then his sensors went off the scale as something approached him at high speed. Something extremely powerful.

Vegeta!

A golden streak came to a sudden stop in front of him. But it wasn't Vegeta. It was the mystery Saiyan. Who, as he had rightly guessed, had also transformed into a Super Saiyan. What an incredible annoying race these Saiyans turned out to be! Really, the only thing worse then one Saiyan was three of them.

"Let go of her!" the mystery Saiyan snarled angry as he charged an energy attack, similar to the one Vegeta had used to destroy poor #19.

"It would seem that we have a stand off, would it not?" Android #20 said, then he began to grin, "It would seem that she matters greatly to you, does she not?"

"Do not make me repeat myself, Dr. Gero," the mystery Saiyan said, his voice trembling with anger as he poured more energy in his attack.

Hearing the mystery Saiyan say his name, Android #20, or as he really was, Dr. Gero, almost let go of the girl.

"You know my name?" he said shaken. Upon which mystery Saiyan's cold blue green eyes narrowed.

"Did you really think that I could hunt you down for three years and _not_ know how you look?"

"I suppose not," Dr. Gero said, then he sighed, "Still, it changes little. I have what you want."

"If you kill her there will be nothing left of you," the mystery Saiyan said coldly, "not even a lifeless head."

"I only have this life to live anyway," Gero retorted, "What difference does my lifeless head make? And how would I know that I would be allowed to escape if I were to let go?"

"You have my word as a Saiyan," the mystery Saiyan said.

"Excuse me if I don't put much trust into a Saiyan's word," Gero snorted, "After all, it was a Saiyan that slaughtered the only thing I belie…."

Before Gero could finish his sentence he was attacked from behind, a shoulder to the back of his head.

It wasn't a serious attack but it did cause him to let go of the girl and sent him crashing into a hill side.

"Fuck!" Dr. Gero muttered as he tried to get back on his feet. It was the dark haired girl, the one that seemed to cling to Piccolo like a puppy.

"Bitch, I will kill you for that," Gero yelled at the girl, only to have bands of chi appear around his wrists and ankles, locking him against the hill side and a large globe of obscene chi fire shoved in his face.

"I beg to differ, automaton," Mystery Saiyan's voice said now triumphantly, "this is the end of the line for you my friend. Tell the other androids that Belmovekk sends his regards."

Crap! This couldn't be, Gero thought. To have worked this hard for all these years and to have it come to an end like this? He'd rather die at the hands of Son Goku then this unknown, this Belmovekk.

But this would not be the time of Dr. Gero's demise as fate stepped in. Taking the form of a very pissed off Saiyan prince.

"MOVEKK!" Vegeta's voice thundered, "Do not destroy that android! He is mine."

"I do not see your name written on him," Belmovekk's voice replied.

"He doesn't have to, Movekk," Vegeta's voice replied, "I am your superior. Now stand down and let me finish him."

"He was hurting Buffy," Belmovekk's voice said with rising anger, "She is of my house now. My daughter! I claim superiority through kinship."

"That is your right," Vegeta's voice concurred, "But nobody forced her to come and I am still your superior."

Then a new voice joined in.

"Don't I get a say in this?"

It was the voice of the girl he had almost sucked dry.

"Look, Belmo, I know you have a tendency to go on an over protective father hyper-deficiency kick, but that thing attacked me. I want to fight it."

"That would hardly be a challenge," Vegeta's voice countered, "he got to you the last time."

"No," the girl's voice protested, "he ambushed me. I want a fair fight."

"Now this I gotta see," a voice said in a heavy British accent.

"Fine," Vegeta's voice said assenting, "I rule in favor of her claim. Movekk, stand down!"

For what seemed like forever the other Saiyan didn't respond. Then the shining orb of death was re-absorbed, the bands of chi around his arms and legs disappeared and Gero could see the rest of the world again.

They were all there. Vegeta, Goku's friends, and the newcomers.

"Give her a senzu," Piccolo said towards Krillin.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" the small fighter asked.

"I am," Piccolo said as he looked at Buffy.

"If you say so," Krillin said and pulled forth a senzu from the small pouch, then he threw it at Buffy, "Catch!"

Buffy caught the small bean and put it into her mouth. As strength flowed back into her she turned towards Faith.

"Thanks for the save."

"Anytime B.," Faith smiled back.

Returning her attention to the android, still wedged in his sideways crater in the hill, she could see the brains again that were inside his skull. The brains of Dr. Gero if what Belmo had confided in her was true. And she didn't doubt it. The vibes that her Spidey senses gave off were small but registered high on the pure evil scale. The kind that you only gave off if you planned on destroying the world.

"Any time now, Summers," Vegeta said impatiently, "And if you die, try not to give him any more of your energy, right?"

x

x

"Well, they've been here alright," a young female voice said.

The person whom she was talking too, a young man, didn't reply. Instead he was hunched down next to a giant crater, lost in his thoughts.

"What the hell is going on here?" Trunks Briefs said both shocked and horrified as he examined the former battlefield.

"Can't be all bad," the girl said, "I mean we didn't find any bodies, right. I mean here, not in Sydney."

"You've seen the sight of this explosion, Mayan," Trunks said a little testy over his shoulder, "They could all have been obliterated!"

"Oh lighten up, you old sour puss," Mayan shrugged, "you always assume the worst. Now maybe if you had flown that time machine a little be…."

Her abrupt stopping raised an alarm bell inside Trunks. After all, a lifetime spent fighting the androids had trained him into paying attention to the slightest signs of trouble."

"Mayan, love, is there something wrong?" Trunks asked worried as he stood up and ran over to the girl."

"That depends," the girl said as she pointed to something on the ground, "how sure are you that we are in the past?"

"Pretty sure, after all, Mom made it so…..," Trunks said, then he stopped as he saw what Mayan was pointing to, "Oh."

It was a severed head.

But not just any severed head. It was the severed head of an android.

But not an android Trunks was familiar to.

It was somebody had made a caricature of a fat Chinese/Turkish man out of metal and carbon fibre composites, stuck a brain in its cranium and covered it up with clear plexi-glass.

"What the hell is that?" Trunks said both shocked and aghast at the same time.

"My guess, the head of an android," Mayan stated matter of fact. She had always been better at accepting the unacceptable. A trait Trunks suspected she had inherited from her father.

"Duh, I know that," Trunks said agitated. Even though he knew she was good at accepting the unacceptable, a trait he admired, he sometimes wished that she could be a little less blunt while doing it.

"What I mean is that this…, this thing, looks nothing like the androids back home," Trunks said as he picked the head up to give it a closer examination.

"Then I guess you either overshot the mark and landed us in an alternate reality, your mother inadvertently build a machine to cross into dimensions instead of time, or….," and here she paused as she began to sport an impish grin and waved her hand across his face, "these aren't the droids you're looking for."

Trunks wanted to say something, then he just shot her a glare of annoyance.

"Come on, that was funny?" Mayan protested, "You know I love those old movies."

"Not funny," Trunks said back as he threw the head back on the ground, "especially when you insult my mother at the same time."

The girl rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You know I mean no disrespect, mama's boy, but it does rather fit the evidence, doesn't it," Mayan said and pointed towards the general direction of Sydney, "Sydney is not burning as it should. At least not much. We have found no bodies of Goku, Vegeta, my father or the others. Just the head of an unknown android. Alternate reality makes perfect sense to me."

"I'm still leaning towards the idea that what I did here three years ago changed things," Trunks said sullen.

"Duh," Mayan retorted, "If you change the past without changing the future then what you did create _is_ an alternate reality. And I know you didn't change the future because you came back and picked me up, remember?"

Trunks began to shake his head.

"I wish mother where here," he said wistfully, "Maybe she could make sense of this."

"Trunks Briefs," Mayan said chiding, "Quit wishing for what you don't have and make the best of what you do have! Let's make the best of the situation as it is."

"Sir yes sir!" Trunks said as he stood to attention and gave a military salute before smiling, "You have the soul of a Saiyan drill instructor, love."

"And don't you forget," she said scornfully before breaking into a smile, "Now let's go find whoever is responsible for this."

She hadn't said a word when to the north-west came a bright flash, followed by an explosion.

DOOM!

"My guess, they're over there," Trunks said.

"Then let's go," Mayan said, after which the both of them took off and flew in that general direction.

x

x

A jet flew over the Australian outback, sporting a large double C logo on its tail. Inside the cockpit two people were peering out of the windows intently.

"Are you sure they are here?" Bulma asked her co-pilot as she handled the controls.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure alright," Major Riley Finn replied as he tried to make sense of both his eyes and his senses, "We're close by. Any second now."

"I hope you're right," Bulma said. Then something whizzed by her side of the plane at high speed.

"Did you see that?" she said excited to her passenger, "That was that boy from the future. He's going to the fight as well. Good call, major."

Riley didn't reply. Instead he looked out of the window on the other side of the plane. Then he stopped looking and stared ahead blankly.

"What's wrong?" Bulma asked.

"I think just saw my girlfriend fly by," Riley said calmly, like he had seen a ghost but had not come to terms with it yet.

"So she's not at the fight, good sign, right?" Bulma countered. Riley didn't immediate. Instead he looked shaken.

"Last time I checked her she didn't have black hair, nor a tail."

x

x

"I think we just passed your mother," Mayan said as she looked over her shoulder to the rapidly disappearing aircraft behind them.

"She always was headstrong," Trunks said, "And quite brave in her way. Did I tell you that she, Krillin and Gohan went to Namek, despite the dangers, and that da…., Vegeta and Freeza were also going there?"

"About a million times," Mayan sighed, then she pointed ahead to some dots hanging in the sky ahead, "Hey, isn't that your dad?"

It was. They could see Vegeta hanging in the air. But something was different.

Vegeta had blonde hair. He was transformed into Super Saiyan.

"I thought you said that when your father died he was unable to go Super?" she asked.

"He didn't," Trunks said flummoxed.

"Then I guess we _are_ in alternate reality country alright," Mayan said, then she pointed elsewhere, "And there's Piccolo. And Gohan."

"It's like they're watching something," Trunks said as he tried to see what they were watching. It was a fight. Two people were fighting. But he couldn't really see who. He tried to get a good look. One of them was a girl, a blonde that seemed familiar.

And then he stopped in mid-air as he realized who the other combatant was. It was another android. And he again looked nothing like the ones he was familiar was.

"This can't be," he said in shock to Mayan, "Not another one!"

But Mayan didn't respond, she just hung there in the air, staring at the two fighters in abject horror.

"Mayan? Love?" he asked her, then he looked again at the other fighter, the girl. And he finally understood.


	3. Interlude 'Survivors'

**Interlude: Survivors**

x

x

AN: _The anime has the Story of Trunks special, which is actually one of the best pieces of filler Toei ever created for DBZ that wasn't part of Toriyama's manga. Usually saying that their filler work sucks ass is an understatement. Every complaint people have with DBZ, that its too long, inconsistent, 30 episodes of people looking constipated as they power up, almost all of that can be traced to the filler material Toei created to adapt the manga for the anime. Filler that was necessary to draw the story out where it needed for television. And there was some good stuff, but overall, yech!._

 _Still, when I set out to write Original of the Species I said that for me only the manga would be canon, not the anime. I might borrow some stuff and I think that like Toei, the bleak future Toriyama created of Earth under the androids, deserves a little more attention then just the two chapters Toriyama did in the manga. So, expect the occasional interlude to give us a glimpse into that future._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 8, somewhere, elsewhere

"Ssssssh," a voice said soothing as the little girl began to cry.

Letting out a sigh Buffy began to gently sway the small child that she was holding while she sat down on a piece of rubble. Rubble that until a couple of days had been the town she had called..., for lack of a better word, home?

Sunnydale.

How she both hated and loved the place. Well, not love exactly, more the sort of quiet contempt you felt whilst at the same time tolerating it for lack of something better. The kind of contempt you expressed in a social gathering or amongst friends, but which turned to a comfortable feeling once you returned. The kind which once you left changed from contempt to a warm fuzzy feeling once you returned after ten or twenty years. So in a sense it was home. More of a home then LA had been, oddly enough.

And now there was nothing left of it. All the pain, all the loss, all the sorrow, all the sacrifice to keep it safe over the past four years and along come a couple of doomsday robots and poof, all of it was gone.

And to make it worse, she and her little sister Mayan were all that was left of it.

Tears began to flow as she remembered the people she had lost in these past days. Coupled anger. Anger towards the androids responsible. But also towards the man who had said that he would take care of things. That he would never leave them.

"Stay at home, young lady," she said bitterly as she pretended to speak as someone else, "I think it is better if you stay out of this one. Do not worry, young lady, I will be back. It is only a couple of androids. Stupid asshole!"

"Weeeeeeeh," the child began to cry.

"No," Buffy said as she tried to sooth the child, "Don't cry, Mayan. I'm sorry, I didn't mean too."

That wasn't very smart of her. There had always existed this strange psychic bond between them. And now even more then ever since the two of them were all that was left of their little family.

Taking one more look around them Buffy began to softly sing.

 _Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man_

 _with my three wishes clutched in her hand_

 _The first that she be spared the pain_

 _That comes from a dark and laughing rain_

 _When she finds love_

 _May it always stay true_

 _This I beg for the second wish I made too_

 _But wish no more_

 _My life you can take_

 _To have her please just one day wake_

 _To have her please just one day wake_

 _To have her please just one day wake_

 _To have her please_

 _Just one day awake_

As she sang the child stopped crying. Although it probably had more to do with Buffy getting calm again then her actual singing. After all, it wasn't for nothing that whenever she took the stage on karaoke nights the place emptied before she could even hit the first note.

"It's just me and you now, little sister," she said as the child closed its eyes and fell asleep.

And so she sat amidst the ruins of their former world.

Then there was some noise and the noise of somebody approaching.

"And uncle Xander of course," Buffy said to the child as Xander emerged from the rubble behind them.

Through sheer luck Xander had not been in Sunnydale as the androids came through on their destructive rampage. That didn't mean he had survived unscathed, in fact he had lost just as much. Friends, family, loved ones. Anya in particular.

"Are you insane, Buff," Xander said scalding, "You and Mayan shouldn't be out like this. I could have been an android!"

"Xander Harris," Buffy chuckled as she looked over her shoulder, "You are many, many things, but an android you aren't. Besides, I sensed you. Those things on the other hand, you can't sense."

"That's the kind of sense that's not," Xander said frowning, "that only means you're even more vulnerable out here in the open."

Buffy looked around the field of rubble that used to be Springfield.

"It's not like there's much of an indoor to be," she finally said, "Even the demons have packed in."

Xander didn't immediately reply. Instead he looked around himself. Then he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"We have to go, Buff," he said softly, "there is nothing left here for us. The Big Guy's gone, Giles bought it, your mother, your…."

"Don't you think I know that?" Buffy snapped back as she glared angrily at Xander, causing the child to waken and cry again, "This is all that I have left, Xander. Rubble and memories. It was all for nothing!. All for nothing."

Xander bit his lip in response. He should have handled that one better. He could see why she was loath to leave this place. It may be the rubble of her home, it was still all that she had left. Her last connection to her dead family.

But he didn't have time to bring it to her gently. He could only hope that maybe she still had some of that resilience she had shown in the past left. So he slapped her in the face.

"Don't you _ever_ say that again! It's never for nothing!" he said angry, then he pointed to Mayan, "She's now your family. Time to face the music, Buff, get out of that funk, get up and get on with the program. For her sake. For her!"

Buffy looked at Xander dumbfounded as she rubbed her cheek. Then she looked at the crying child in her arms.

"Let's go, Buff," Xander pleaded as he knelt in front of her, "Let's get away from this place, as far away as we can. Let's go up north. To Capsule Corp. I heard they survived, that the androids veered off East. Willow is there. She's alive, Buff. We can be together again, the three Amigos, Scoobies forever."

As Buffy seemingly calmed down, so did Mayan.

"Willow's alive?" Buffy said softly.

"Yes," Xander said hopeful, "but in order for us to get there we have to leave, Buff. And it gets better. Last thing I heard Gohan is there as well. He survived the battle. This isn't over, not by a long shot. They have a gravity gym up there, Gohan can teach us. We will have our day."

For a moment she didn't respond and Xander feared that she might slip back into her funk.

"Yes," Buffy finally assented to Xander's relief, "Maybe we should go. See Will."

"Good," Xander as he helped Buffy up, "Let's go. Let's leave this hell hole."

Xander turned around. Now that he had managed to get Buffy out of her funk they needed to get some supplies. Luckily he knew where to get some.

"Do you want me to carry Mayan, Buff?" he asked, "She trusts me. Let me ca…."

Xander stopped talking when he noticed that Buffy was giving him a strange look.

"Xander, I….," she tried to say, then she bit her lip in that cute way that always gave him a happy time when he still had the hots for her, now a lifetime ago.

"What Buff? What is it?" he asked.

"It's….," she said still unsure, then she put her free hand on his shoulder, "I want you to make me a promise."

"What kind of promise, Buff," Xander asked both curious and surprised.

"Promise me that you will never leave me," she said, "That you will never go away, never to return. Like my father. Like Belmo. Like Mo…."

Buffy broke down and looked away so she could cry. Leaving Xander to come to terms with what she had just said. That was a big promise to ask for. But he could understand why she asked it. She always had abandonment issues. Which was why she always latched on onto older men. Be it as lovers or as surrogate fathers. That's why she had cared so much for Giles, Belmo or even those assholes Angel and Parker. And then there was Riley of course.

Poor sod. While he didn't know whether Riley was still alive or not, he did knew that the captain had been deployed to the LA basin to fight the androids. A futile exercise if there ever was one. If Belmo and Vegeta couldn't stop the androids, then what chance did the US Army have? From little he had heard before the news blackout the whole LA basin was burning to the ground right now. The chance of Riley still being alive were so slim as to be non-existent.

And then there was the question of whether he would be able to keep such a promise. He was never the best of fighters, never able to keep up with Buffy as Belmo had trained them. And then there was Anya. Good god, Anya. Poor Anya who never stood a chance as those, those things burned the 'Dale to the ground. Making such a promise to the girl he once loved seemed like a betrayal to Anya. Okay, so she may not have been the best of girlfriends. But she deserved a better fate then this.

But how could he refuse Buffy? So the love he once felt for her was over, he still thought of her like a sister. The sister he never had. You don't refuse your sister, especially when she's at the edge of a complete mental break down.

"Buffy Summers Movekk," he said solemnly, "I hereby promise to never, ever, leave you. So be it, as Kami is my witness. Cross my heart, hope to die. Liar, liar, pants on fire."

As soon as he said it she threw her arm around him and began to sob uncontrollably. All the sorrow, all the loss, it now came out in one big catharsis. As she cried Xander took Mayan from her and cradled her in his arms.

"I guess that now makes you my sister as well," he said to the child. Buffy continued to cry for several minutes, then she got the better of herself again and let go.

"Thank you," she said as she wiped away her tears.

"Hey, you never had to ask you know," he smiled at her.

"I'll get my things," she said as she turned around to look for whatever of her stuff had survived.

Leaving Xander to look at little Mayan.

"You know, Mayan," he sighed, "You should be careful what you wish for. I once wished for somebody to come along and level this place. And now look what happened. Be careful what you wish for, little girl, for the universe has a very perverted sense of humor."

x

* * *

x

AN: _The song Gaeta's Lament that Buffy sings to Mayan comes from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, in which the character Gaeta sings to occupy his mind from the searing pain he experiences after losing his leg. Lyrics by Michael Angeli, music by Bear McCreary_.


	4. Chapter Two

**Chapter 2**

' **House of Cards'**

x

x

AN: _Ever wondered what a certain evil genius was up to during all those years leading up to the android invasion? Me too._

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 3 years, 7 months, 9 days.

x

A child was playing on a road.

She wasn't very old yet but she was old enough to know that soon would come the day that playtime was going to be over. That she would join her sisters, that it would be a sign of her becoming a woman.

She happened to think that was a load of bull.

Grownups and her sisters never did anything fun. They were always so serious. Always telling her that she couldn't do this and that. Don't do this! Don't do that! Be careful! Never play at the edge of the village.

And the edge of the village just happened to be the most fun part for a child to have a good time.

The edge was where a kid could play without being harassed by adults all the time and be herself. Where a kid didn't have to get out of grownups' way, didn't have to do any chores. So naturally this was where she always liked to hang out. Usually with her friends, but alone if need be.

Like today.

She may have been alone right now but there was no limit to her imagination as she played with her latest new toy. A scorpion which she prodded with a stick to make it move in the way that she wanted it to.

Naturally the scorpion wasn't amused but she wasn't stupid. As long as she used the stick and kept her distance, what should have been a very dangerous creature was now just a child's amusement.

As she played with her 'pet' she saw one of her friends come by. A boy a year older then her.

Which meant that he was now already royally f***ed and put to work every day. Herding sheep from the fields surrounding the village. At least until the summer began again. And unless the grownups didn't think of something for him to do. If only she could stay like this forever and never age.

As the boy and his herd passed he waved at her and she waved back. Then she returned her attention to Mr. Scorpion. Who seemingly had used the distraction to bugger off.

Now where did he go?

As she was embroiled in her search she didn't notice that a column of vehicles were racing down the road and that she was in their way.

Too late she noticed that something was travelling towards her at high speed and only then did she look up. The car was just meters away as it came towards her and she froze up like a deer caught in the headlights.

Only to feel a pair of hands lift her up at the last second and pull her out of the way of the travelling vehicles.

As the vehicles passed the girl looked up into the face of her rescuer. It was a woman dressed in an all encompassing blue dress that covered her whole body, including her head and face, with just an oval mesh in front of her eyes so she could see. But as the woman began to yell at her she didn't need to see the face of her mystery rescuer. That screeching voice could only belong to her older sister.

Great! Now there would be no end to it!

Or for any future chances to play alongside the road.

A little further an old man watched as a woman dressed in a burqa pushed a child along. Then he looked at the road again and spat contemptuously on the ground. He had seen it all as the column of Japanese made pick trucks full of armed men passed by.

"Bloody Arabs!"

x

* * *

x

Android #13 kept a weary eye at the unwashed man opposite him, keeping a Kalashnikov assault rifle trained at him. Not that the man could ever hope to hurt him, the thought alone.

But they were in the back of a travelling vehicle on a road not even worthy that name in the middle of some godforsaken wilderness, the roadsides probably strewn with landmines. Some prudence was therefore of the essence.

"I hate this place," the large brutish mass of Android #14 said next to him, "It's cold."

"Then wear a coat," #13 shrugged indifferent. The idiot wore a sleeveless t-shirt in the middle of winter.

"I hate coats," #14 said back annoyed, "They make me itch."

"Then I guess you're up shit creek," #13 smiled indifferent to his fellow android's plight. Besides, if the idiot didn't like the sensory input he could always turn it off.

"No talking!" the man with the machine gun said nervously in Arabic. Which #13 could understand, but choose not to communicate in. Not only because it was a ghastly language, but also because he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Easy, Hajji," he said in a slight condescending tone of voice in English, "Wouldn't want to have an accident, now do we?"

"Sit there and be still!"Hajji said, not understanding a word of what #13 had said to him.

"I'm not going anywhere," #13 smiled back.

"Tell me again why we're getting cold in the back and #11's comfortably up front?" #14 said bored.

"Because there was only room for one more and that ruled you out for sure?" #13 replied, "Just sit back and enjoy the view. Isn't it beautiful?"

"It's a bloody box of sand," #14 snorted derisively, "Not even fit for kitty litter."

"Then go sulk in silence," #13 shrugged and briefly glanced at the armed guerrilla fighter in front of them, "You're making Hajji nervous."

"He was born nervous," #14 said. After which Hajji pointed his gun at the large brute.

"Shut up and be quiet!" Hajji said as he almost put the gun's muzzle in #14's face.

Something to which #14 didn't take kindly.

"Listen, towelhead," #14 said slowly as he leaned forward until the gun muzzle was just millimetres away from his forehead, "if you don't get this pea shooter out of my face I'm going to wrap it around yours."

"I'm telling you to be quiet!" Hajji said in a tone that betrayed he was nervous as hell and had sort of backed himself into a corner. Clearly unable to understand English he had no idea what the two of them were saying and that coupled with their indifference made him edgy as fuck. Rolling his eyes over his companion's idiocy #13 intervened.

"Let's all be nice, shall we?" he smiled in a gentle tone of voice at Hajji, be it still not in Arabic, as he gently pushed the AK's barrel upwards, "Now, he's going to shut up and be nice, and you my friend, you're going to be a nice little camelfucker and not play with your toy gun. Alright?"

Hajji didn't immediately respond but he seemed to have caught the gist of it as he nervously backed down. Giving #13 the chance to turn to his fellow android.

"One more noise out of you and not even the good doctor will be able to re-assemble you."

"Fuck off," #14 said sulking. But he did so in silence as he never said a word for the rest of the journey.

"Be quiet!" Hajji said again, to which #13 nodded.

"Not a word," he smiled, then he muttered softly under his breath, "Bloody camelfuckers!"

x

* * *

x

The convoy sped through the desolate wilderness for another hour before it reached a large compound. The compound was heavily guarded as there were armed guards everywhere. Most of them were of Arab descent, although #13 saw there were sizeable contingents from Pakistan and Africa. He even saw one fighter of Caucasian descent.

As the vehicles came to a stop in the center of the compound more armed men emerged from the mud brick houses as they surrounded the vehicles. Ignoring the men #13 jumped off the pickup truck and opened the passenger door. Out came android #11, a below average length android with an unassuming Asian exterior. The two androids nodded to each other briefly. #13 liked #11. They always got on well together. To bad the good doctor saw it more fit to pair him off with that oaf of an #14.

The next person to come out of the car had to be helped to leave that vehicle. So #13 and #11 helped Dr. Gero step outside. While the good doctor was far from a frail old man he no longer was the man he once was. Plus the cold weather, the long voyage and the car's shitty suspension had all helped to take a toll on the man.

"Cough, hack!"

"Are you alright, doctor?" #13 asked concerned as #11 left them to talk with some of the armed men.

"I'm fine, #13," Gero said before coughing some more, "Nothing another session in the auto-doc won't cure."

The doctor was of course referring to his lung condition. A few years ago he had suffered a severe case of pneumonia and had almost died. It was only thanks to the auto-doc and the help of his androids that he had survived. But he never completely cured from the disease. From time to time he suffered a relapse causing another auto-doc session.

It worried #13 to no end seeing the doctor suffer like this. Which was why he had opposed the plan to come here. But they had little choice. They needed a new place to stay.

The men talking with #11 pointed inside and then took #11 with them as they went inside a building, leaving only #13 and #14 to take care and protect the good doctor.

"Fucking camelfuckers," #14 said in disgust as he assumed a menacing pose next to the doctor, "we should kill them all and just take over."

"Now, now," #13 said chiding, "no need to be violent, #14. Oh, and try not to say anything offensive. Some of these people could understand us. Better yet, try not to talk at all. Let #11 and the doctor do the talking."

"Whatever!" the large brutish android shrugged. The three of them then waited in silence for at least fifteen minutes until #11 returned.

"We can go, Dr. Gero," #11 said, "Osama Bin Laden will see you now."

x

* * *

x

Sitting next to Dr. Gero, #13 observed the on goings. #14 sat at the other side of the good doctor, keeping a close eye on the door. That was his job, making sure no threats to the doctor would come from there. A single-minded task for a single-minded android.

Perfect for him.

It was #13's task to keep an eye on the situation in here. An intricate and complicated task calling for a more sophisticated android. Now #13 wouldn't dare dream to call himself sophisticated. But compared to #14 he was a Nobel science prize winner in comparison.

#11 was no slouch either in the smarts department, probably the smartest of all of Gero's androids. But he was a scientist, not a fighter. Created to be Gero's assistant in particular.

But for months now #11 had been on this mission, here in the heart of Afghanistan, the culmination of which was now taking place.

Opposite them sat the fabled Osama Bin Laden. Leader of the greatest resistance network currently active against the power of the Western world. To be honest he didn't strike #13 as being that impressive. Neither did his resistance network. A bunch of thugs, the band of some warlord in a country riddled with warlords.

But they had need of him. They needed a new place to stay as the ground was getting a little too hot at their current location. Which was only temporary anyway. And Osama Bin Laden's band of thugs could provide them with a safe place to stay. And provide them with the necessary resources too if need be. #13 longed to get back to working with the good doctor again. He had seen his blueprints for the designs of his new android, #16, and was excited to get working on that. If only to have a new brother again. Which hopefully provided him with more stimulating conversations then #14 and the currently absent #15.

#13 studied the Islamic resistance leader. It was ironic that such a lawless and godless land as Afghanistan attracted such god worshipping people. #11 had said that the man studied the holy book of his religion every day. Even now he was prattling on about his God and kissing said God's ass.

It was also ironic that a man like Dr. Gero, a staunch atheist coming from the atheist Red Ribbon ideology now needed to befriend such a staunchly religious organisation. Life did indeed have a perverse sense of humor. Of course that was not perfect Red Ribbon ideological thinking either. But hey, signs of the times, right?

Since the great Islamic revolutionary hero refused to soil his tongue with anything other then the Prophet's holy language Bin Laden spoke through an interpreter.

"Peace be upon you, Doctor Gero," the interpreter said as he placed his right hand on his heart, "the fame of your accomplishments has preceded you. My master asks if he can offer you something? Food? Fruits? Tea?"

"Some tea would be nice," Gero replied, upon which the interpreter clapped his hand and a woman clad from head to toe in a blue garb entered with a kettle and some cups.

"The doctor drinks his tea with three spoons of sugar," #11 said in fluent colloquial Arabic to the woman, who did as she was asked and then left again. Then Bin Laded leaned towards the interpreter and said something.

"How is the tea, my master likes to ask?" the interpreter then said after #11 had given the tea to the doctor who took a cautious sip.

"Fine, thank you," Gero said, "the weather, the journey, it has been quite hard unfortunately."

The interpreter translated upon which Bin Laden nodded, then spoke again.

"My master says that the Afghans have a saying, that Allah has created this land to test the Faithful."

"Indeed," Gero smiled weakly, upon which Bin Laden whispered to the interpreter again.

"My master likes to ask, why you are here?" the interpreter asked. Good! They came straight to the point.

Gero coughed again, upon which #11 whispered to him if he was alright. The doctor nodded that he was alright.

"You know this," Gero said and gestured towards android #11, "He has negotiated with you. We would not be here otherwise."

Bin Laden whispered again.

"My master desires to hear it coming from your mouth," the interpreter said, "He wants to be able to judge your character."

No pressure there, #13 thought. And no surprise either. Mister Bigshot did strike him more as a cult leader. And what was a religious resistance group other then a cult?"

"It is simple," Gero said, "We have common enemies. I have fought the power of the decadent and imperialist West for decades. But my movement was defeated thanks to agents of that West. I desire a safe place and an alliance to have one more chance to strike a decisive blow against the foul Imperialists. I think we can be of mutual beneficial use to one another."

Bin Laden didn't even wait for the interpreter to finish and began to talk with his lieutenants. Which confirmed what #13 had suspected all along. The Great Religious Ziggabuu may not want to defile his mouth with languages other then that of the mighty Prophet, that didn't mean he didn't understand them.

After the discussion was over Bin Laden spoke to the interpreter again.

"My master says that a man of your intelligence and knowledge can be a great help to our cause. That you were renowned as the weapons master of the Red Ribbon Army and that you crafted many powerful weapons for them."

Good, the Great Religious Ziggabuu seemed interested.

Then Bin Laden whispered something again to his interpreter. Who then looked slightly uncomfortable as one of Bin Laden's lieutenants began to protest. But Bin Laden cut him off and told the interpreter to translate.

"My master says that while you are the renowned weapons master of the Red Ribbon Army, Doctor Gero, the Red Ribbons were also infidels who denied the true word of Allah, praise be unto him."

"Al-Qa'ida is not just a resistance army," the interpreter continued, "We are the resistance army of Allah, praise be unto him. We understand that we must sometimes make deals with infidels for the greater good, but we have never allied ourselves with them."

The whole room was silent as everybody awaited Gero's response. #13 tensed up as his eyes went from one person to another. Even #14 seemed to know that this was it.

Before Gero, who stared at Bin Laden in disbelief, could say something it was #11 who interjected.

"This was not what we agreed upon. Does the great Bin Laden suddenly break his word?"

"Not at all," the interpreter said as he waved his hands in front of him, as if in trying to diffuse the situation, "No harm will befall Dr. Gero, or his companions. As was promised."

"Then why the change of heart?" #11 asked, "I thought Al-Qa'ida was interested in what Dr. Gero could provide for them."

Bin Laden spoke again and the interpreter translated.

"Al-Qa'ida is very much interested in what you can do for our cause, Dr. Gero. But our cause is just and ultimately we will prevail with the help of Allah, praise be upon him. We cannot however ally ourselves with infidels. If we are to conclude our alliance we require a test of faith. We require that…."

Before the interpreter could finish and #11 could reply Gero spoke up, in a voice more powerful then #13 would have given him credit for.

"I hereby proclaim that there is only one God and creator in the universe, Allah the mighty, the merciful, and that Muhammad is his prophet."

#13 was impressed. The doctor had said it with both conviction and most important, a completely straight face. Again the doctor's passion to destroy Son Goku against any and all cost impressed the android.

It also impressed Bin Laden as he stood up with a big smile on his face, came towards the doctor and took his hands into his and for the first spoke in English.

"I welcome you into our ranks, brother Gero."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 238

x

Dr. Gero was staring at his computer screen and breaking his head wondering where he had gone wrong. It all seemed so clear when he had been in the auto-doc. Now…., it was like he had lost the clarity he once had. Here he was in his own stupid cave in the fucking ass end of the world and he couldn't come up with that which he so desperately needed. In disgust he stood up and slammed the computer's keyboard.

"Fuck!" he yelled angry, "Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Shitfuck!"

There! That felt better.

"Those aren't words befitting of a true Muslim," a voice said behind him. Causing Gero to almost jump up in shock and turn around.

Three men had entered his cave, two of them armed with AK-47's. They didn't concern Gero though. It was the third man that had him worried.

When he had sworn allegiance to Bin Laden and Al-Qa'ida, Gero had few intentions to live up to his side of the bargain. Overthrowing the West and ushering in a new age of reason and prosperity for humanity had long ceased to be a dream of his. A certain Saiyan kid had destroyed that dream long ago. Nor did he care anything for the new Caliphate Al-Qa'ida was going to usher in after the fall of the West. He had seen how they treated the locals that were supposedly living in their ideal society already and they didn't seem very much enthused.

As far as Gero was concerned Al-Qa'ida represented only two things for him. A safe place to work from and a mail order firm from which he could order the parts he needed. In return he would give them some beads to keep them happy. And they were happy. They were easily fooled.

Except for this man.

Ayman al-Zawahiri was Bin Laden's right hand man and lieutenant. If Bin Laden was the spiritual heart of the organization, the man for whom his followers would be willing to die, then al-Zawahiri was the brains of the outfit. The man behind the throne. The Red Ribbon Army was like that as well. Hell, probably most movements were like that.

When Gero had made his so-called conversion to please Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri wasn't fooled for one minute. And as soon as Gero and his androids had retreated to their guest chambers al-Zawahiri had come by and called Gero on his bullshit. Lucky for Gero he and al-Zawahiri were alike. They were both men driven by an intense hatred of their enemy and both willing to do absolutely anything to annihilate that enemy.

So whereas where a Bin Laden would rather let a valuable asset go then compromise his principles, al-Zawahiri would sign his soul over to the devil to get what he wanted. And he wanted more then just the beads that Gero was willing to offer.

Al-Zawahiri knew that Gero was into robotics. And while he had no interest in a robot army for Al-Qa'ida, nor the imagination to imagine one, he was very much interested in robotic implants. And not in the kind that made Gero's androids shoot chi like energy blasts.

No, al-Zawahiri wanted to implant people with undetectable high explosives and use them as suicide bombers.

You had to give the guy some credit though. Unlike many in his movement the guy understood the West in some aspects. He knew that the idea of somebody strapping on explosives and blowing himself up was considered abhorrent in the West. That it horrified Westerners. Even more so since most Westerners had lost their religion and could no longer comprehend that religion could move a person that way.

But there was a limit to the explosive power you could carry out with a standard suicide vest. First because you could only carry so much explosives with you before it became pretty obvious. Secondly, well, because carrying an explosive vest carried a high risk of getting caught before you reached your target. It was fine for a warzone like Palestine, where people had to work with limited means at their disposal.

But al-Zawahiri had bigger fish to fry. He needed to terrorize the West out of the Middle East. For that suicide bombers would be his terror weapon of choice. But to carry out attacks in the West he needed bigger yields and means to escape detection.

One of Bin Laden's followers had suggested hijacking planes and flying them with passengers and everything into famous American buildings. Bin Laden liked the plan, very much so as the idea of using the Infidel's planes against them held poetic justice. Al-Zawahiri thought the plan had merit as well, as it would horrify the West. But it would be a one off tactic. Certainly not suitable for the sustained offensive that would be necessary to drive the West from its hold on Muslim lands.

No, what he needed were undetectable high explosive implants. The kind that would allow an army of suicide bombers to infiltrate into the West and then blow themselves up in a steady campaign that would break their will. And to al-Zawahiri, Gero was the man who could fulfil that dream.

And it didn't end there. Because al-Zawahiri thought even beyond that. Because he realized that the West could counter his attacks through careful screening and racial profiling. After all, most Al-Qa'ida members were Arabs. If a lot of Arabs were blowing themselves up, why not lock up all Arabs or throw them out of the West? It's what al-Zawahiri would do.

No, the real straw that would break the proverbial camel's back would be mind control. That was al-Zawahiri's ultimate dream. To be able to implant people with both explosives and a device that would allow for mind control. Because then _everybody_ could a suicide bomber. It would break the will of the West once and for all.

To do that al-Zawahiri needed Gero to come up with both the means to implant high yield explosives and something small, almost chip like, that could turn anyone into a mindless drone.

You had to give the bugger extra points for being that diabolically evil, Gero thought. Not even his own plans were that devious. Which meant that al-Zawahiri was far more dangerous then Bin Laden. And if al-Zawahiri had come to his cave he'd better well play nice.

"Old habits die very hard, brother," Gero said as he gave al-Zawahiri a slight bow, "I shall endeavour to be a better Muslim."

"If you're a real Muslim then I shall eat my own beard," al-Zawahiri said, then he said something to his bodyguards that probably sounded a lot like 'be seen, not heard and above all be over there' as they positioned themselves at the entrance of Gero's cave. Gero wasn't quite sure. Even after three years of living in this godforsaken sand box the bloody click clack language of these people still made no sense. Thank god al-Zawahiri didn't have the Great Helmsman's obsession with only speaking that awful noise.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods, Ayman?" Gero asked as he sat down behind his desk again, "Did Osama get on your nerves again?"

"Your insolence grows greater with every visit, Gero," al-Zawahiri replied as he pretended to look at things, "and yet you deliver so preciously little."

"Last time I heard, Osama seemed pretty pleased with those grenades I made," Gero said, to which al-Zawahiri let out a loud snigger.

"Last time was more then a month ago," al-Zawahiri countered, "All this time we never heard of you since."

"I was sick," Gero lied, "you know, my old pneumonia acting up again."

Al-Zawahiri didn't immediately answer, instead he looked around some more, including a suspicious brown splatter pattern on the wall, which looked suspiciously much like dried up blood. Because it was.

"Things seems to have changed in here," he finally said as he turned around and looked at Gero, "I can't quite put my finger on it but it almost seems like something happened in here. Where is that assistant of yours? The one who always calls himself by that number. What was it? Eleven? Has he also gone missing? Like the other three?"

Dead as the Dodo, Gero wanted to say. The last of his loyal androids that had come with him to Afghanistan. Killed by that treacherous duo, #17 and #18. Of course he could never say that. Because that would mean confessing that he was up to all sorts of stuff he shouldn't be. Still, al-Zawahiri was too smart a person to lie to outright.

"Comrade #11's dead," Gero said with just enough sadness to make it seem like a tragic accident, which it was in a way, "He had an unfortunate accident outside. Took a wrong step, fell in that ravine, broke his neck. He will be sorely missed."

"Hmmm," al-Zawahiri snorted, not completely convinced. But it was not uncommon for accidents to happen out here. And that was excluding the many landmines that littered the country from more then 20 years of war.

"I have a message for you from Bin Laden," he said, "His patience with you is running out. He wants you to finally deliver the technology you promised us or he will have your head on a platter."

You mean _you_ are running out of patience and _you_ will have my head on a platter, Gero thought. Creepy son of a bitch!

Luckily it wasn't a question of having to invent the technology al-Zawahiri was after. In fact he had done so years ago. If need be he could whip out the blueprints and show them to the Egyptian right now.

But he was no fool either. Gero knew that once al-Zawahiri had what he wanted his usefulness to Al-Qa'ida basically came to an end. And with the demise of #11, and three failures lying in an anteroom behind him he was a little short on android firepower to defend himself. And he was so close. So damn close.

"I am a little short handed at the moment," Gero said, "with comrade #11 gone I have to do everything myself. It will take time."

"No," al-Zawahiri said as he shook his head, "No more time. I want the technology ready for use within six months or the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will no longer extend its hospitality towards you, _Doctor Gero_."

Al-Zawahiri emphasized his name a little bit too much for comfort. Meanwhile Gero's mind began to race. Six months. He could easily build himself a couple of crude androids to protect him in that time period. He might even build himself a passable human looking android, considering his limited resources. But what he wanted to build could not be done. He needed more time.

"Why the rush," he asked, "why in six months time?"

"That does not concern you," al-Zawahiri replied, "All that you need to know is that the Americans have a new president. He is young and foolish. We can use that to our advantage. But we need to do that now, not next year. You have half a year, Gero. Then the technology has to be ready for implantation."

"This is madness," Gero argued as he gestured around him, "I need more supplies, especially the heavy elements. It can't be done."

"You know whom to give your requisitions too, so get it done," al-Zawahiri said as he walked towards the exit and his two bodyguards, then he stopped and turned around, "And since you're a little shorthanded I will assign you an assistant."

It was like al-Zawahiri had just pulled the rug from underneath Gero and for a moment he stood there speechless, his mouth open like a goldfish. Before he could say anything al-Zawahiri smiled.

"I have just the man for you, Gero, no need to be thankful. Allah takes and sometimes he gives. Aleikum wi salaam, Gero!"

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 234

x

"Dr. Gero?" a voice called out.

There was no reply coming from the cave that was Gero's laboratory. In fact the place seemed deserted as it was shrouded in darkness.

"Dr. Gero?" the young man asked again.

Again there was no reply.

Great, the young man thought, what am I supposed to do now?

"Who are you?" a voice called from the darkness.

"Dr. Gero?" the young man asked hopeful.

"That depends," the voice replied.

"On what?"

"Who send you here," the voice said.

"I, um, uh, I sent to here," the young man stammered, "al-Zawahiri, he, um….."

"Sent you to spy on me?" the voice replied accusingly.

"No, it not that," the young man floundered, "he, um, me sent here to help."

The lights went on, revealing the doctor at the other end of the cave, holding a gun.

"I see," the doctor said as he put away the gun, then he looked at the young man oddly, "You're not your typical Al-Qa'ida member, are you?"

The doctor was right. With his almost Chinese looks and large obese body the young man looked nothing like the average Al-Qa'ida member.

"I is," the young man said defiantly, "I is warrior of Allah,"

"You're not Arab," the doctor said as he walked up close, "Are you Turkman? From one of those new countries?"

"We is all warriors of Allah," the young man said, "Passport not matter."

"Yeah, alright," the doctor waved dismissively, "I get it, we're all the same here, I was just curious, you know. So you're my new assistant? What's your name?"

The young man made a formal bow.

"I born in China as Muhammad Chiu Hsing," he said.

"Ah, the doctor said as if he suddenly realized something, "You're an Uyghur, aren't you."

"I is warrior of Al….," the young man tried to say but the doctor interrupted him.

"Yeah, I know," he said dismissively, "You're a true soldier of God. What are your qualifications?"

The young man gave the doctor a look like he didn't understand what he was saying.

"Come on," the doctor said impatiently, "Please don't tell me that all you've studied is the Koran."

"Uh, I study Shanghai University," the young man said, "I study solid state crystals before finding Islam."

"I see," the doctor said nodding, "So you may not be completely useless after all. Come with me. There is something I want you to see."

The doctor gestured for him to follow so the young man did, to a large study desk with a computer on top. The doctor started the computer, waited for it to boot, then he opened a file.

"Can you make sense of this," he said to the young man. Who leaned over and started to read. At first he couldn't make heads or tails from it. But then his eyes grew big.

"What is diagram?" he said alarmed as he turned his head to the doctor, only to see the doctor push a syringe into his neck, "What? No…."

Next thing the young men fell to the floor, unable to move or speak, to do anything other then move his eyes as the doctor leaned over him, checking his pulse to see if he was alright.

"In case you're wondering, I've drugged you," the doctor explained, "You see, I have several problems and you are both cause and solution. I am in desperate need of an assistant. Unfortunately you don't fit the bill."

The doctor took the syringe and a small bottle with a clear liquid.

"Don't take it personal, kid," the doctor shrugged, "You might even be a good kid. But you're also al-Zawahiri's shoe in and if there's anything that I don't need it's a spy working here for al-Zawahiri. You see, I care nothing for him, that Bin Laden prick, Al fuckin' Qa'ida and especially nothing for Islam. I'm just using you guys. And we can't have al-Zawahiri finding that out, now can we?"

The doctor looked at the screen of his computer and smiled an evil grin.

"Luckily you can still help me, kid. Like I said, I do need an assistant. And I don't have much choice currently. I think you'll make for a fine android. And guess what, that mind control that al-Zawahiri is so dying to get his hands on? He's going to get it. Sort of. As I'm going to install it in you. Hahahaha, that's funny right?"

The young man was unable to answer of course for obvious reasons.

"Spoilsport," the doctor said as he leaned over the young man, the needle of his syringe dripping with clear liquid. He was about to inject him when he stopped.

"Oh, and by they way, what kind of idiot names his kid Muhammad?"

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 233

x

The auto-doc was a true marvel of his engineering, Gero thought as he watched what went on inside on an outside viewing screen. It had sustained him for all these years, being with him since the days of the Red Ribbon Army in one incarnation after the other. It had been a good friend for all these years and served him well. So good it almost deserved to have an android number.

But that would have to wait as the auto-doc was busy with its current occupant.

Yes, the auto-doc had seen a lot of work over the years. Almost all of Gero's android's had been created in this thing. The ones with a human base that is.

Over the years Gero had always drifted between creating androids that were either human based of completely artificial. Most if not all of his androids below the 10 mark had been artificial, with the exception of android #8, which was an experiment and a marked failure. For #8 had refused to fight Son Goku when he had the chance.

For a long while the failure of #8 to obey had haunted Gero. What had gone wrong with that thing? Android #8 lived up north, near the Arctic circle and the temptation to get him and examine him was great.

But Son Goku was familiar with android #8 and his disappearance might tip his enemy off. So for a while Gero had returned to working with artificial androids again. Dusting off some of his old ones, like androids #3 and #5 for surveillance duty on Son Goku, creating others.

Android #12 had been the watershed. It was then that Gero felt that he could push the artificial design no more and something new was necessary. So he decided to revisit human base again. After all, it did hold some promise, combining the best of both worlds. That led to the creation of androids #13, #14 and #15.

They had been humans that he had kidnapped with the help of android #11. As he experimented with them using all sorts of implants he erased their minds and completely reprogrammed them. But like with android #8 the reprogramming didn't seem to work completely. Elements of their original personality proved hard to eradicate. #14 in particular remained boorish and quarrelsome, #15 suffered from feelings of inadequacy regarding his small stature with a need to compensate. Plus he liked alcohol a lot. #13 proved to be his best work though. A good dependable loyal android be it with a tendency for lower class behaviour. They were good, but they still weren't perfect.

After that he felt confident enough to revisit an artificial base again. Apply the lessons learned from a relatively successful experiment and take it to new limits. And oh boy did he take it to new limits. Pound for pound #16 was his finest android creation to date. What a magnificent fighter he could have been, if it weren't for his refusal to obey. It still dumbfounded Gero that what should have been his greatest creation turned out to be his greatest failure.

After that it was back to human base again as he tried to cram as much of the good things that made up #16 into Androids #17 and #18. And nearly got himself killed when they rebelled. Another great failure. But one that still might be redeemable. Which was why he had kept all three androids safe in storage. Never let it be said that Dr. Gero would abandon his children.

Even if they did try to kill him.

The auto-doc began to beep, signalling it had reached the end of its cycle. Gero checked the data on the viewing screen to see if they were satisfactory.

They were.

Then the auto-doc's door opened and its occupant emerged amidst a hiss of vapors and condense, like a rebirth. Which it was in a way. In had gone Muhammad Chiu Hsing, a fat former science student turned radical islamist, out came something else entirely.

"Android #19, reporting for duty."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 142

x

"I'm impressed."

"You should be."

Ayman al-Zawahiri, 2nd in command of Al-Qa'ida looked at the engineering drawings that lay on the table. Next to him Al-Qa'ida's chief engineer was already drooling a steady pool of drool as he studied the drawings.. Gesturing he called for a servant and spoke to him in Arabic for a moment, after which the servant left. Leaving al-Zawahiri free to look at the men opposite him.

"So you finally came through for us, good doctor," al-Zawahiri said as he addressed both Dr. Gero and his assistant. They were in the main Al-Qa'ida compound as the good doctor and his assistant had come to them. As it should be.

And now he had the plans to create the explosive implants! It was now a question for their engineers to work things out. And once he had the blueprints for the mind control implants…. Well, let's just say that by then the good doctor had fulfilled the tasks that Allah had set out for him.

'Walk with me, Dr. Gero," al-Zawahiri said as he stood up, "Your assistant can work out the details with al-Hosseini.

With a little difficulty the doctor rose and limped towards al-Zawahiri. Then they went outside.

"I cannot thank you enough for giving us these designs, Dr. Gero, "al-Zawahiri said as they walked through the large central courtyard of the compound, "For years we have been on the defensive from the Imperialist Pigs. Now we finally have the means to strike back and take the initiative."

"I am just fulfilling the destiny that Allah has set out for me," Gero replied humbly.

"True," al-Zawahiri echoed, "But there is no shame in having a little pride in one's achievements, especially one as monumental as this."

"My true achievement shall be the downfall of the Imperialist West," Gero said as he limped around a large puddle of brownish water.

"Blessed shall be the day," al-Zawahiri said, "Your new assistant is working out fine I trust?"

The doctor paused a little before answering.

"It was a little, 'difficult' at first," he finally said, "And it took some getting 'used' to."

"I know," al-Zawahiri said as he smiled amiably, "Muhammad has a hard time making himself understandable. But underneath his poor gift for language hides a great gift for technology. Al-Hosseini was most displeased that I seconded him to you, good doctor."

"I think so too," Gero echoed, "The boy is a genius. And he helped me make these designs work. He was most, for lack of a good word, persistent?"

As well as he should be, al-Zawahiri thought, you really needed a kick in the ass, good doctor. Then he halted and looked at the doctor.

"Doctor Gero, today you have helped us strike a great blow for Islam," he said, "but we need the mind control technology as well. Only when we can turn the infidels against each other will we be able to claim victory."

Gero looked aside and didn't really look pleased at all. Then he looked down and sighed.

"I need more time for that," he said, "The technology to control minds is more complex. Compared to that its relatively easy to implant high explosives into people."

"You have three months left, doctor," al-Zawahiri said, his cheerful tone gone, "Three months. Events are being set in motion that cannot be delayed. Pray to Allah that he will grant you the insights to make it happen."

Then al-Zawahiri began to walk again, leaving Gero standing in the central courtyard, until he began to limp after Al-Qa'ida's 2nd in command.

"And what after that?" Gero asked as he limped a little harder to get alongside al-Zawahiri again.

"I am sure that a man of your many talents will be of use to us," al-Zawahiri smiled. Not bloody likely though he thought. Once I have what I need….

"I had something in mind," the good doctor said, "how about improving the yield of the explosives?"

"They are already quite powerful," al-Zawahiri shrugged, "More then we ever dared to hope for."

Gero put his hand on al-Zawahiri's shoulder and halted him.

"I am not talking about mere chemical explosions, al-Zawahiri, I am thinking of nuclear munitions."

To his credit al-Zawahiri's jaw didn't drop. Much. Then he recovered.

"You propose to create nuclear bombs into people?" he asked cautiously. To which the good doctor nodded.

"Building a nuclear weapon is not that difficult," he said, "the real challenge is in making one that is small enough."

Then the doctor began to grin, a sight that al-Zawahiri didn't particularly relish to see as it gave him a cadaverous look.

"The Red Ribbon Army carried out studies towards nuclear miniaturization," Gero continued, "We deemed it possible even with limited means."

Gero pulled out a CD-rom from his coat and gave it to al-Zawahiri.

"The real problem is not building a mini-nuclear bomb, the problem is obtaining the nuclear materials needed to build one. They are all tightly controlled and hard to obtain. Seeking them out would cause alarm bells to ring and draw unwanted attention. That is why the Red Ribbons decided not to go for it."

Al-Zawahiri nodded. He understood the same problem. For those very same reason he had talked Bin Laden out of trying to obtain nuclear materials or to steal a nuclear weapon inside the former Soviet Union. It was not wise to draw unnecessary attention to oneself.

"But how do you propose to obtain the nuclear materials to build such weapons, good doctor. They are, as you say, very hard to obtain without causing alarm bells to go off across the world."

"Simple," Gero said as he grinned that cadaverous smile of his again, "We let the Americans get them for us."

The good doctor then proceeded to tell of a plain to obtain a large nuclear materials stockpile that was both so clever and so devious that al-Zawahiri almost fell a chill going down his spine. Or was it a shiver of joy. He wasn't quite sure. In anyway, he had just found new respect for this doctor.

x

* * *

x

Waiting by their car, yet another of those ubiquitous Japanese pickup trucks, Android #19 waited for doctor Gero to arrive. Two more cars, loaded with Al-Qa'ida fighters were waiting as well, as escorts of course.

It saddened #19 that they were dependent on these barbarians. All the more so because he still had access to Muhammad's memories and from those he had a pretty good idea of the closed minded fanaticism these people had.

Muhammad had been a bright promising student of a relatively well off Uyghur family who were living in the little Xinxiang quarter of Beijing. Admitted to the prestigious university of Shanghai the kid had fallen into bad company in the shape of a radical Islamic prayer group. And from there things had gotten progressively worse until Muhammad Chiu Hsing, the sole son of very proud parents with a bright future in China's booming economy, had ended up as a technician for Al-Qa'ida in a shithole in the wastes of Afghanistan.

And then Gero had turned him into one of his androids.

Android #19 didn't mind having been turned into an android. That was because he hadn't really been turned into one at all. Gero had created his higher consciousness and personality in a separate brain before implanting it in the kid. It served two purposes really. First it gave Gero a chance to test and tweak out Android #19's personality before giving him a true robotic body. Vastly reducing any possibility of a rebellion.

Secondly Android #19 would essentially get two brains. Before Gero had basically erased the brains of all his biological androids and then augmented them with technology. Often outgrowths of the mind control technology al-Zawahiri was after. Since he had too much problems with original personality traits re-asserting themselves this time it was going to be different. Instead of modifying a brain he inserted a 2nd one and put the mechanical brain in charge.

This way he did not have to erase the biological brain and he could keep the memories (which was damn helpful if #19 had to masquerade as Muhammad), it allowed the brain to act as a backup into which #19's personality could retreat into in case of catastrophic damage.

No, if anything Android #19 didn't mind at all. As far as he was concerned Muhammed hadn't been converted against his will into him, it was he who was gifted by the doctor with the gift of a body instead.

All in all Gero had thought it to be very clever. And so did Android #19. But they weren't there yet. Which is why Dr. Gero had said that this conference with the Al-Qa'ida leadership was crucial. If it failed it would mean that they would have to escape and fast. And neither Gero, nor #19, were really ready for that yet. They were in fact so desperate that if necessary the Doctor would activate Androids #17 and #18 again, trusting in the minimal patchwork that had been done in the hope that it would make them obedient again. Truly a sign of despair.

When #19 saw Gero and al-Zawahiri come around the corner, engaged in animated discussion, he knew that things were looking up. The doctor wasn't shouting, al-Zawahiri seemed really interested. The doctor's gambit seemed to have worked. So as both men he jumped in the back of the waiting pickup truck.

"I have to say it was a pleasure meeting you again, Dr. Gero," al-Zawahiri as he said his goodbye, "you have given us much to think about. Salaam Aleikum!"

"Aleikum wi Salaam," Gero said as he placed his right hand on his heart, then he took #19's extended hand and let #19 lift him in the back of the car. Then, as al-Zawahiri watched them leave, the three cars drove off, back to the mountains where Gero's lab was.

As they drove off, #19 and Gero sat in silence. And they did so for quite some while. Until #19 broke the silence.

"Dr. Gero, can I ask something?"

"We are not alone," the doctor replied offhand, as an armed Al-Qa'ida fighter sat with them in the back of the pickup truck.

"Him?" #19 said incredulously, then he smiled and waved at the man as the man smiled and waved back, "That is Ahmed. His nickname is Ahmed the goat lover. I think you can guess where he gets the nickname from. A man with such a nickname does not know how to speak your language, doctor, or he would have gotten a different nickname."

Gero thought it over for a minute.

"Ask," he finally said.

"What changed his mind, doctor, what made al-Zawahiri change his mind. Was it the nuclear technology you had on offer?"

Gero cupped his chin as he thought it over.

"You'd think so," he said pensive, "but I was wrong. I don't think he really cares for the nuclear technology at all.

"That seems odd," #19 said surprised, "You would think that a man like that jumps at any opportunity to get powerful weapons."

"He is not like other men, this al-Zawahiri," Gero said as he shook his head, "When I told him of my plan to get nuclear materials I honestly believed he would laugh it away. I know I would."

"What was actually your plan, Dr. Gero?" #19 asked curiously. Gero looked at the android oddly. He was very curious. But that had been part of the programming as Gero needed an assistant as much as he needed a new fighter. There was no time to create both.

"I guess I could tell," he said, then he began to grin, "How much do you know of the new American administration?"

#19 accessed his internal data banks.

"They are Republican, he is the son of the previous Republican president. They seem to care little for what others think of them in this world."

"Indeed," Gero interjected, "But it goes ever deeper then that. The son has surrounded himself with his father's old advisors and ministers. They seek a new world order. An American world order. Above all, they seek to finish the job that his father left unfinished. And what job was that, #19?"

#19 thought it over.

"Are you referring to Iraq, doctor?"

"Correct," Gero said as he began to elaborate, "The moment Al-Qa'ida starts its suicide bomber offensive they will be tempted to use it as a casus belli to renew the war with Iraq. All al-Zawahiri has to do is to provide them with the right casus belli. Like shall we say plant fake evidence of a connection between Iraq and Al-Qa'ida. The Americans would then invade, the Iraqi regime would fall and in the confusion al-Zawahiri could arrange for the disappearance of Iraq's stockpile of nuclear materials. The world would never know until it was too late."

"Surely such a far fetched scheme would never work, Dr. Gero?" #19 countered.

"Who knows?" Gero shrugged, "From what I've heard this new president does not strike me as very intelligent."

"That still would not fully explain why al-Zawahiri was interested in this idea," #19 said. Upon which Gero looked away.

"He thinks that it will serve as a rallying cry that will unite the Faithful against the Great Satan," he eventually said, "Personally I think he likes causing mayhem and destruction more then anything and the very idea that he could manipulate the Great Satan into doing something so stupid is what appeals most to him. But it doesn't matter why he does it, only that it will buy us the time we need."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 66

x

"Doctor? How did your meeting go?"

As he closed the heavily armored door after Dr. Gero, the doctor walked right past his trusty android.

"They have begun implanting the first explosives into the volunteers," Gero said as he raced towards his computer to bring up more schematics, "I didn't think they would be this fast."

"You had hoped for at least 2 more weeks, doctor?" Android #19 said as he joined the doctor's side.

Gero halted for a moment, then he took a deep sigh.

"Al-Zawahiri fully expects a third of the volunteers to die," he said, then he picked up a tea cup and threw it against a wall where it shattered into a thousand pieces, "The callous bastard! And that moon faced Bin Laden just sits there and declares all piously that all victims will go to bloody paradise and will get their 72 bloody virgins. Bastards!"

Gero turned around and walked away, to the ante-chamber where the auto-doc was and switched it on. Then he returned to the main cave and to his computer.

"I truly despise religion," he raged, "I swear, once I've beaten Son Goku I will return here and tear out al-Zawahiri's heart and feed it to Bin Laden and vice versa. Those bastards will pay!"

Then Gero let himself fall into his chair and stared at the computer screen.

"It's not right," he said softly, "It's not right, you know, #19. Brainwashing those kids and implanting them with explosives and doing such a sloppy job that a third won't survive. It's not right! The Red Ribbons would never have stood for it!"

Android #19 did not know what to say, other then cold logic and truth.

"And yet it is you who gave them this technology, doctor," he said emotionless, "you…., we are also responsible."

"It's still wrong," Gero said staring ahead blankly, then he looked up at #19, "Things are now in motion, #19, that cannot be stopped. Al-Zawahiri expects the blueprints to the mind control technology within a few weeks. And then it will begin. He will send out his suicide bombers and they will strike the Americans. After that the Americans will retaliate. That idiot of a Bin Laden thinks that his God will protect him, but al-Zawahiri fully expects them to invade here. He's already preparing to relocate to Pakistan. If the Americans come here they will find us. Then the Capsule Corp. whore will know and after that Son Goku will come."

"But you knew this, doctor, when you signed up for it," #19 stated matter of fact.

"But not so fast!" Gero said annoyed, "War could be upon us before we are ready."

#19 thought it over for a moment.

"Would al-Zawahiri not have made plans for our relocation as well?" he asked.

"Maybe, you never know what that bastard. Suppose he did, it would still set us back months," Gero said, then he turned to the computer screen, "No, we must advance our own timetable as well."

Bringing up diagrams and blueprints the doctor zoomed in on one specifically.

"We have no time to complete the cranium protection for the upcoming models," he said, "I will design a stop gap measure. We can always come up with something more permanent later. First we must weather the storm, we shall begin the transfer immediately. I shall go first."

"I see," Android #19 said with just a hint of disappointment in his voice, "I thought the plan was to transfer me into a new body first?"

Gero didn't even look up as he studied his designs on the computer screen.

"Don't be silly," he said, "Your current body has a glandular dysfunction. That's why its so fat. We aren't even halfway finishing your new body yet. Unless we do mine first there is no way we can both be finished in time."

Android looked at his own obese body. He never thought it was a hindrance. Until now. But he was still a loyal servant of the doctor.

"Yes doctor," he said without barely any signs of emotions.

After all, that was how the doctor had made him.

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 43

x

"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful!"

"Indeed, are they not?"

As al-Zawahiri studied the designs for the mind control implants he could only read about 5% of what the technical drawings meant. But after more then three years of dealing with the doctor and months with his own technical people al-Zawahiri had learned at least some rudimentary knowledge of reading technical diagrams. For everything else he had his own engineers.

Sometimes it was just plain scary to know that one person could come up with this kind of stuff. It made you want to reach for a gun and put a bullet through that person's head, because that kind of smarts just had to be too dangerous to keep around.

Unfortunately, now that he knew that the doctor could also deliver him miniature nukes he just had to have that kind of technology. Maybe he was too greedy after all. For years he had coveted the technology he now had in his hands. Was it too greedy to ask for more? Maybe he should be content with what he had and kill the good doctor right here, right now. Maybe that was the will of Allah?

But deep down al-Zawahiri still feared that his suicide bomber strategy was not enough. The Great Satan was strong, resilient. As the heathen Japanese and infidel Germans found out during World War 2. His own strategies had failed in the past before. His attempts to bring down the regimes in Egypt and Algeria had both failed. Maybe it was the will of Allah that this man would live to bring him the nuclear fire with which to cleanse this world in Allah's name?

"Once I realized that less is more it gave me the breakthrough that I needed," Gero said as he hovered over al-Zawahiri's shoulder, "In hindsight it was so simple."

It still took you more then three years, al-Zawahiri couldn't help but think. Still, he couldn't complain. The best scientific minds in the world could not have come up with what he had here. Letting Gero do his own thing for three years was a small price to pay in comparison. And just in time as well.

"This is most fortuitous, doctor," al-Zawahiri said as he stood up and handed the designs to one of his body guards, "the hour of our offensive is at hand. Already our first wave has infiltrated the West. Soon will come the day when they shall strike Allah's vengeance upon the infidels."

"It pleases me to hear that," Gero smiled in that cadaverous grin of his, "After all, I only live to serve."

Yeah right, al-Zawahiri thought, like you care. You have been using us as we have used you. I only wished that I know what you were really up to. Then again, maybe I don't want to know. Probably more of that artificial human business he was known for during his Red Ribbon days. He had always wondered about the Doctor's previous 'companions'.

"Well, soon there will be no turning back," al-Zawahiri said as he reached for his coat, "If I were you I'd prepare to leave this cave of yours. Once we attack we expect the Americans to come here in retribution. It would be better for all of us to be somewhere else by then."

Dr. Gero looked around.

"I kind of like my cave," he said gesturing around, "It's almost like….a home away from home."

"Soon you will achieve success far greater then the Red Ribbons could ever dream off," al-Zawahiri said, putting his coat on, "You have fulfilled the will of Allah."

Dr. Gero looked around his cave on more time.

"So what time can we expect the offensive to start?" he asked, causing al-Zawahiri to gave him a weary look.

"That does not concern you, doctor," he said as he held up his hand and waggled his index finger from left to right, "Those are tactical decisions."

The doctor nodded humbly.

"I am sorry if I overstepped my bounds," he said, "But I have a lot of stuff to move. I must know how much time to expect in order to plan ahead."

Al-Zawahiri looked at all the stuff and junk that was in the cave. And he hadn't even seen what was in the other chambers.

"I suppose you have a point, doctor, " he said, "Alright, very well. We know that American satellites keep an eye on us, so any move would have to be done at the last moment, as to not to alert them. We've already begun to move some of our equipment to Pakistan. Be prepared to be ready to move early in September. And Bin Laden will expect you to come to the compound on September the 10th. At which point he will give a speech."

"We will be there," the doctor said as he bowed his head. Then al-Zawahiri said his goodbye and left the cave. During all of the time that he was there he never noticed that Gero didn't limp any more.

x

* * *

x

No sooner had al-Zawahiri left with his precious plans, when Gero went to #19, who was in from the construction chamber. A large chamber where Gero created everything mechanical.

Inside #19 was hard at work at creating what would be his new body. Appearance wise it was the spitting image of his own body. Only it would be completely artificial.

Just like Gero's body was now.

"We have a date, #19," the doctor said, upon which #19 stopped working, "September 10th his mightyness, the almighty space pope, will call a meeting and address the troops. Like he always does the day before an attack. It will be September the 11th."

"That leaves us only 42 days to finish and test my body," the android said, then he looked at the unfinished body, "It will be close."

"We could use this day to our advantage," Gero said as he began to chuckle.

"How so, doctor?" the android asked curious.

"When Al-Qa'ida attacks we could take our new bodies on a final test run," the doctor said as he stared at the small round receptor in his hand palm, "After all, what is one more attack when there are many at the same time?"

Android #19 thought it over for a while. It seemed like a good idea.

"What do you propose, doctor?"

Gero turned around and looked at a small map of the world which hung on one of the walls.

"Ever since the '90's I've particularly grown to dislike Australians," he said with a growing grin, "Those backpacking bastards are like cockroaches. Overturn a stone and you'll find one. So let's pay them a visit. How does Sydney sound like?"

x

* * *

x

AN: _I had a blast writing this chapter, but I do hope that I didn't offend anybody. I do try to keep my own political views out of my stories. Any opinions expressed are those of the characters, not mine. Soap boxing is bad! But I felt I had placed myself in a bind by creating the 9-11 connection from day one so it had to be tied in to the story. Any opinions expressed by characters is theirs, not mine. And as always, do drop me a nice review. Or an honest one._


	5. Interlude 'Gropos'

**Interlude: 'Gropos'**

x

x

AN: _I didn't plan this interlude, it started out as a small piece of the next interlude when it hit on me that it deserved to be separate._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 13, somewhere, sometime

x

Buffy and Xander were travelling through the San Joaquin Valley up north. In hindsight though they probably should have taken the coastal road, Xander thought, as it was like travelling through the Terminator universe.

After Judgment Day.

It turned out that after laying waste to Los Angeles the Androids had gone this way as well. Whole towns, cities even, were destroyed. Not only did it make for slow goings, it was also depressing as hell.

As said their progress had been slow, even hiding for a full day because it looked like the Androids seemed to be still active in this area, passing along more and more towns and cities which had been turned into rubble, the dead lying everywhere, caked in flies.

Luckily, even though the Androids had been very thorough in killing everybody, they didn't seem to be as thorough or interested in destroying property. From time to time they found supplies in half destroyed supermarkets, or an 7-11.

But during all that time they didn't come across a single living soul.

It was like somebody had taken a giant scythe through the valley and mowed everybody down. It was disheartening, Xander thought, there was not a sign of human life anywhere to be found.

It was hard on the girls. Despite being barely two, little Mayan was very downcast. Whoever said that kids aren't stupid was right. Especially children that were half Saiyan. Which was logical of course from an evolutionary POV. When Saiyan adults don't always show restraint or are prone to over-excitement, Saiyan children have to develop keen alertness to sudden dangers.

Xander wasn't sure if Mayan was actually understanding what was happening, or that she sensed that something was wrong and therefore took more notice of what was going around. She seemed very interested in the ruined towns that they passed and although they had done their best to shield her from seeing dead people, torn apart people, or just plain pieces of people, sometimes it couldn't be helped.

Of course the biggest impact on Mayan's state of mind was Buffy though.

After her breakdown Buffy had gone full 180 and never cried since. She had become Business Buffy all over again. Never talking about her feelings, always saying things were fine. Never even wanting to talk about anyone. Especially those that were dead.

Xander had debated with himself (a fun exercise if there ever was one) if he should do something about it. There was after all more then one way of being in a funk. There was the crying and self pity funk, but there was also the no talking about anything 'cos I'm fine', funk. Either way she wasn't fine at all.

But at least she was functioning. Right now he needed her to be functional. So he decided to let her live in her denial.

Whatever kept you ticking, right?

Unfortunately he wasn't doing so well either.

Xander missed those who had died. He missed Joyce, kind loving Joyce, his foster mother by default really. He missed Giles. Crazy Giles. Ripper! God, he'd give anything for a good ol' fashioned dressing down from the G-man right now. And Anya. Dear God, Anya! She was a weird and crazy chick in many ways. But she had grown on him, and not in the nasty fungus kind of way. And he really, really, really could have done a lot worse then her. And he had the track record to prove it.

And now they were all gone.

Every night, after they had made camp, he had gone off, find himself a quiet spot and cried. Sure it was gay doing so, but hey, whatever kept you ticking, right? And each time that he had gone off, when he returned he noticed that Buffy had been awake. As he would sit by the fire or lie down she would follow his movement, only letting herself sleep once she knew he was really back.

To be honest it was starting to get creepy.

But hey, it kept her ticking. And he had no time to go Frasier on her.

Then there was the time when they had to hide because she thought she had spotted the Androids flying over. Her suspicions were confirmed as they heard some explosions in the distance. As they cowered in hiding Xander held Mayan when he suddenly couldn't shut up talking. Constantly reminiscing about their loved ones, the good times and telling Mayan stories of the good old days. At a very modest volume of course, he wasn't that insane. He could tell of course that Buffy didn't like it, but he just couldn't help himself. It was like the floodgates had burst or something. But during that entire time she hadn't said a word, pretending not to listen as she kept a weary eye out for the Androids.

He suspected that she put up with it because she understood that he needed that outlet to keep sane as well. He liked to think that that day she did listen, that she couldn't talk herself, but by letting him talk she could find a little peace herself.

Hey, whatever kept you ticking, right?

x

* * *

x

"Is that a gas station?"

"It looks like one," Xander said as he halted their car.

They were in the city of Fresno, which was another destroyed ghost city when Buffy had spotted a gas station which looked intact. And they could use the gas. The SUV they had found in Bakersfield was handy in crossing streets full of rubble but wasn't doing much miles to the gallon.

Of course they could always siphon off gas from other stranded cars. But so many of them were full of corpses that it felt like disturbing a grave. And not the cheesy kind of old Sunnydale graves, that somehow seemed to pack more end of the world causing artefacts then corpses, but the kind that held still fresh decomposing ones. So naturally after a while one relished the chance of finally being able to pump some gas at a regular gas station.

Even if it was self service in every sense of the word.

As Xander began to refuel the car, and the jerry cans they had collected, Buffy went inside, leaving Xander to look after Mayan who was sleeping inside the car. After all, despite how intact the gas station and shop looked like, bitter experience by now had taught them that that didn't mean there couldn't be any ghastly dead inside.

"Hey, Xan," Buffy's voice called from inside, "there's still some cold beer inside."

"Really" Xander said pleasantly surprised, "Bring some, I could use a cold one. We both do."

Buffy didn't respond, but after a while, after Xander had finished refuelling the car and their jerry cans she emerged from the gas station's shop carrying bags of food, and of course a sixpack full of cold ones.

"Buffy carrying food," Xander smiled, "My favourite combi….."

"HANDS IN THE AIR!"

Suddenly from the rubble across the street a dozen soldiers emerged, their guns trained on them. Four of them came towards them as the others kept their guns aimed at them.

"Don't move," one of the soldiers said as they neared, "By order of the Android Defence Act you are hereby under arrest for looting."

"We…., looting…?" Xander said, then he looked briefly at Buffy, "They think we're looters, Buff."

"Can you blame them?" Buffy said as she glanced at the stuff she was holding, "You have to admit this looks bad, right?"

"Look, we're not looters," Xander said as he took a step towards the soldiers, "We're…."

BANG.

A bullet threw up a small heap of sand just a foot away from Xander's feet.

"Don't move and keep your hands where I can see them," the lead soldier said angry, "We have orders to shoot to kill."

"Okay," Xander said as he raised his hands into the air a bit further, "I'll just, um, go stand over here then, okay?"

As the soldiers approached them two of them went for Buffy and the other two for Xander.

"On your knees, looter," one of the soldier yelled to Xander, "You are hereby under arrest for looting."

"We're not looters," Buffy yelled back as the other two soldiers forced her to kneel as well, "We're from Sunnydale, we're refugees!"

"There are no refugees from Sunnydale," one of the soldier replied harshly, "Cause there are no survivors from Southern California."

"Put your hands on your back," a soldier yelled as he kicked Xander to the ground, then Xander felt his hands being secured with plastic tie wrap.

"Sarge," there's a small kid in here," one of the soldiers yelled.

"That's my sister!" Buffy yelled, sounding one inch of going postal on these guys, "Don't you hurt my sister, or I…."

"Look, we're really from Sunnydale," Xander said quickly before Buffy would say something really stupid, "If you check my ID card you'll see that I'm really from Sunnydale."

More soldiers came, including their commander.

"What do you think, Sarge?" the soldier that had secured Xander asked.

The sergeant thought it over for a moment, then he trained his gun at Xander's head.

"See if he's right, private," the sergeant said to the soldier, then he spoke to Xander menacingly, "If you try anything funny I'll blow your brains out."

Xander said nothing as the soldier began to pat him down until he found Xander's wallet. With his ID card.

"Says here he's one Alexander Lavelle Harris from Sunnydale California, Sarge," the soldier said.

"I don't think they're looters, Sarge," another soldier said as he inspected some of the goods Buffy had taken from the gas station's shop, "There's just stuff here you need to survive."

"Well I'll be darned and dipped in molasses," one of the soldiers said in a heavy Southern accent, "We've found ourselves some genuine survivors."

"Not so fast," the sergeant said, then he gestured the soldier with Xander's ID card to give it to him, "Show me. And show me his face as well."

The soldier holding Xander's ID card handed it over to his sergeant, then grabbed Xander's hair and pulled his head up so the sergeant could have a good look at his face.

"Hmm," the sergeant said as he compared Xander's ID picture to his actual face, "Whoever took your picture should be shot, you know?"

"I think he already is," Xander agreed as the soldier let go off his hair.

Meanwhile a soldier reached into their car and picked up the still sleeping Mayan.

"Ah," he said deeply moved, "Isn't she a picture of beauty?"

"Mayan!" Buffy yelled and she began to wrestle the soldiers.

"Just let her go," the sergeant said, upon which the soldiers let go of Buffy and she raced towards her sister, almost yanking her from the soldier holding her.

"You have to excuse her," Xander said apologetic, "But she used to have a big family and now that's all she has left."

"We understand," the sergeant said as he ordered that Xander be helped up from the ground, "But we had to be careful. The Androids have moved on but there are a lot of looters and deserters moving in. And frankly, you guys are the first survivors from Southern California that we've heard of."

"Really?" Xander said surprised, "What about LA? Her boyfriend was there."

The sergeant looked at his men, not sure what to say.

"Well," he finally said, "Let's just say that this year they won't be holding any Oscars. For a very long time."

"I see," Xander said, it was as he feared and he looked towards Buffy. But she only seemed to be glad that Mayan was alright. She had probably written off Riley like she had done with everyone else who had died.

"We will be taking you with us, miss," the sergeant said as he walked over towards Buffy, shouldering his rifle, "There are refugee camps along the coast, south of San Francisco."

"We were going there ourselves," Buffy said, then she looked at Xander, who was still tied up, "Maybe if you let us go we could go there ourselves?"

"I can't do that, miss," the sergeant said shaking his head, "We almost shot you for looting, you might not be so lucky the next time."

"Then at least could you untie me?" Xander asked as he wiggled his tied hands, "Starting to lose circulation here."

"Can't do that either, Mr. Harris," the sergeant said as he walked back to Xander and put Xander's ID card in his chest pocket, "We are at war with the Androids. Millions of our citizens have been killed. We nuked Las Vegas in order to stop them and it failed. They're now in Mexico but they will be back. By order of the Android Defense Act the president of the United States has hereby declared martial law throughout the country and ordered that every able-bodied man not in a critical job has to report for military duty. In short, son, since you don't seem to have a critical job, you're hereby drafted."

Xander looked at the sergeant in disbelief, then at an equally shocked Buffy, then at the sergeant again.

"Then why tie me up?" he asked wide eyed.

"Because we don't want to have to shoot you, Harris," the sergeant replied, "My unit has shot eight people already for desertion, and I'll be damned if you survived Southern California only to become number nine."

"NOOOOOO!"

With a yell Buffy erupted in a halo of white chi, sending a small blastwave from her that knocked the soldiers to the ground, including Xander.

"You will not take him from me!" she hissed angry at the sergeant as she raised her free hand at him, then she blew his head off.

"BUFF, NO!" Xander yelled aghast, then the bullets started to fly.

"ANDROIDS!" one of the soldiers yelled as he began to fire at Buffy. Of course, any bullets that came near her just bounced off her chi flames.

More soldiers began to shoot, including at Xander who could only raise his own chi just in time. Meanwhile Buffy aimed her free hand at another soldier and then also blew his head off. And another.

Oh she was far from okay, Xander thought as he saw her kill soldiers left and right. He knew she had acted way too normal after losing everything. And when she was confronted with the possibility of losing yet another person close to her…..

Sighing deeply Xander tore his bound arms lose like the cuffs were made from paper, aimed his hand at a soldier and killed him too. There was now no way back for them anymore.

x

* * *

x

Having disposed of the last of the soldiers' bodies Xander returned to the car, where Buffy sat in silence with her sister.

"Do you wanna talk?" he asked, as he squatted down in front of her.

"Leave me alone," she said sullen as she averted his gaze and turned away, "I'm a monster. I'm going to hell!"

Xander looked at the rubble around them.

"We're already in hell, Buff," he said as he reached out, took her by the cheek and turned her face towards him, "I will not make excuses for what we did here. Yes, we. We both did it. There are no excuses. We can't undo what we did. We can only go forward and learn to live with it. Like Belmo did, remember? What ever we did, we did because those damn Androids ruined our lives. We will find a way to make them pay. For our dead families, for our dead loved ones… and for these dead soldiers."

Xander reached out and put his other hand on Mayan.

"For her," he smiled, "Together."

"Together," Buffy smiled. Then Xander kissed her on the forehead, stood up and walked over to the other side of the car, to the driver's seat.

That could have been done better, he thought as he drove off, but he couldn't have Buffy fly apart right now. He should have known she was this unstable. He should have intervened earlier, he should have…. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. A man could go crazy thinking of what could have been. From now on he'd keep a better eye on her.

Cause never let it be said that Xander Harris didn't look out after his girls!

Even the crazy ones!


	6. Chapter Three

**Chapter 3**

' **Paranoid Android'**

x

x

AN: _I apologize that it took this long to publish something new. This was the final chapter I got around while writing during my new year holiday. Yes, it's that old already. I wanted to post this, but then a friend of mine died and after that came a massive dose of real life getting in the way. So I got a little pre-occupied. But now I'm back on the horse, finishing a new chapter._

x

* * *

x

A-Day +1

x

As the android was knocked off her, Buffy it felt like she was literally being reborn.

"Thanks," she said to her rescuer. Only to discover that it had been Faith.

"Any time, B." Faith grinned triumphantly, but before she could express her smugness some more the android crawled up from the small hill side crater he had created

"Fuck!" it said angrily as it tried to get back onto its feet, "Bitch, I will kill you for that!"

Next thing Belmo slammed into him, pinned his limbs with bands of chi, created an large globe of obscene chi and shoved it into the android's face.

"I beg to differ, automaton," Belmo said in a voice that was almost jubilant in nature, "this is the end of the line for you my friend. Tell the other androids that Belmovekk sends his regards."

"Somebody's been getting his happy," Faith remarked.

"What do ya expect," Buffy said, he's only been searching for these things like what? Three years?"

Then something fast, golden, shiny, small and very pissed off touched down, soon followed by the others.

"MOVEKK," Vegeta's agitated voice thundered as he pointed at his fellow Saiyan, "Do not destroy that android! He is mine."

Belmo looked over his shoulder, all the while keeping his large globe of obscene chi in the android's face.

"I do not see your name written on him?" Belmo replied calmly.

"He doesn't have to, Movekk," Vegeta's said as he pointed to the android, "I am your superior. Now stand down and let me finish him."

"He was hurting Buffy," Belmovekk's voice said as his voice changed from calm to angry, "She is of _my_ house now. I claim superiority through kinship."

"That is your right," Vegeta's concurred as he folded his arms across his chest, "But I am still your superior."

"What the hell is going on," Faith remarked to her fellow Slayer.

"Saiyan pissing contest," a deep voice growled behind her, "You know, my chi is _so_ much bigger then yours."

Faith began to chortle at Piccolo's joke.

"Ain't he right, B.?" she smiled at her fellow Slayer. Only to find that Buffy was no longer beside her.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Buffy said as she limped towards the two bickering Saiyans.

The two Saiyans looked at her incredulously.

"Look, Belmo," she said as she smiled at him, "I know you have a tendency to go on an over protective father hyper-deficiency kick, but that thing attacked me. I want to fight it."

The two Saiyans looked at each other, utterly gob smacked. Then Vegeta began to smirk and looked at her.

"That would hardly be a challenge," Vegeta's said disparagingly, "he got to you the last time."

"No," Buffy said as she pointed towards the android, "he ambushed me. I want a fair fight."

"Now this I gotta see," Spike said enthusiastically as he touched down next to Faith.

Vegeta looked around the group one more time, then at Buffy, then at his fellow Saiyan.

"Fine," Vegeta said assenting as he stood aside and smirked some more, "I rule in favor of her claim. Movekk, stand down!"

For what seemed like forever Belmovekk didn't respond as his face underwent a thousand emotions, he and Buffy looking at each other as if it almost seemed like they communicated telepathically.

Then Belmo looked away and re-absorbed his shining orb of death.

"This should be good," Spike said approvingly, "'bout time we had some gratuitous sex and violence."

"Shut up, Spike," Xander said annoyed.

"Eat shit and die!" Spike said back.

"Give her a senzu," Piccolo said towards Krillin.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" the small fighter asked the big Namek.

"I am," Piccolo said as he looked at Buffy. If training Faith was any kind of indication then the blonde Slayer should make for an interesting fight. And if she lost, well, then Saiyan step daddy would undoubtedly step in and finish it.

"If you say so," Krillin said and pulled forth a senzu from the small pouch, which he then threw it at Buffy, "Catch!"

Returning her attention to the android, still wedged in his sideways crater in the hill, she could see the brains again that were inside his clear plastic skull. The brains of Dr. Gero if what Belmo had confided in her was true. And she didn't doubt it. The vibes that her Spidey senses gave off were small but registered high on the pure evil scale. The kind that you only gave off if you planned on destroying the world.

At minimum.

"Any time now, Summers," Vegeta said impatiently, "And if you die, try not to give him any more of your energy, right?"

As Android #20 stepped from his hill side crater Buffy stepped forth to meet him.

"I will suck you dry and use your energy to defeat your friends," the android hissed at Buffy.

"Yeah, yeah, been there, done that, gotten the T-shirt, been there again some more," Buffy said in her most bored tone of voice, then she assumed a fighting stance.

"Interesting," Vegeta said appraising, "Cumbri'itsu. I never figured she would go for that."

"I trained her well in all the six forms, my Prince," Belmovekk said proudly as he stood by Vegeta, "She will not dishonor my house. Or us for that matter.

"Then this should be a very interesting fight indeed," Vegeta said smirking.

Next thing the two fighters began to circle each other, each waiting for the other to make a move. While she waited for the android to move Buffy began to wave intricate patterns with her arms, which together with her other movements gave the impression that she was performing a dance of sorts.

"Just charge the git, Slayer!" Spike called out impatiently.

"Why's she not attacking?" Faith asked Piccolo, "This is nothing like her. Usually she's all over people."

"She paid attention," Piccolo said assenting, "Remember? They said they had been studying us and our fighting techniques. That android probably knows every trick we know and every known technique on Earth. So she's throwing him off using obscure Saiyan martial arts. Quite clever, more then I would have given her credit for."

"Couldn't Vegeta have used it back then?" Faith countered. To which Xander let out a loud snort.

"Vegeta? Cumbri'itsu? You've seen him. He's _all_ about raw power now"

Meanwhile, as Buffy still hadn't attacked the android finally had enough and attacked her instead. Only to find that instead of hitting her she danced aside and as he passed she struck him with a kick that landed on the back of his head with so much force that some could have sworn the android's eyes nearly popped out of skull.

As the android staggered and turned around he glared angrily at Buffy, who resumed her intricate dance again.

"You'll pay for that, bitch!" the android said angry, but Buffy just smiled and continued her dance. The android began shooting balls of fire at her, but she easily evaded them as they sailed past her and exploded in the distance. Frustrated that his energy attacks weren't hurting her the android resorted to physical attacks again.

"You know that threat gets more frightening every time I hear it," she smiled as she evaded another attack, followed up by planting her elbow in his neck as he sailed past her. The elbow sent Android #20 face first into the ground. Before he could spit out the dirt she grabbed him by his long white hair and threw him into the air.

As he flew upwards Android #20 tried to slow his momentum, but the moment he managed to regain control he found Buffy waiting for him in the air, then she spun around and kicked him with her heel back towards the ground, where he landed hard, again with his face first into the ground.

"THIS CANNOT BE!" the android yelled in frustration as he pounded the ground with his fist, "I took your energy! I should be stronger!"

Buffy's answer came in the form of landing hard with her feet on his back with so much force it was a wonder that his back didn't snap in two.

"Quit playing with him, Slayer," Spike yelled, "Get it over with so we can go home. I didn't program the VCR past yesterday, remember?"

Buffy didn't respond. She just smiled as she landed in front of Android #20 and knelt before him.

"You may be stronger," she smiled, "But you lack any sense of style. Just tell me when it hurts, okay?"

"Hurt THIS!" Android #20 said as he jumped up and reached out towards her throat. Had he grabbed he could have used his energy sucking device to drain her dry. Or at the very least steal enough energy to weaken her.

Instead she let herself fall backwards, and as the android sailed overhead she reached out, grabbed his right hand with her left and then struck his wrist with her right hand, chopping it clean off.

As the android landed, rolled over and looked in horror at his right arm missing a hand Buffy got up as well dangling the android's hand in front of him.

"I told you you lacked style," she said, "Hurt _this_? Hello, the 80's called, they want their pun back."

"Nicely done, Summers," Vegeta said approvingly, then he glanced briefly at Belmovekk, "She brings glory to your house indeed."

Belmovekk didn't say anything, he just briefly nodded towards Vegeta.

"A very effective fighting technique," Piccolo said approvingly, "Although it has a lot of potential for the user to become arrogant and toy with their opponent."

"Not to mention very tiring," Xander said, "It's very exhausting to move that much _and_ keep an eye on your opponent _and_ plan at least half a dozen moves ahead."

"I'm amazed Saiyans can even come up with such a style," Piccolo said as he glanced at Vegeta, "Planning ahead doesn't seem to be their strongest asset."

"Now finish him, Summers," Vegeta called out, then he smirked again, "Unless you want me to do it for you?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Buffy smirked back at Vegeta, "Watch and learn, your princelyness."

As Android #20 got up on his feet again Buffy faced him again. Only this time she stopped making her fancy moves.

"End of the line for you, Artoo Detoo," she said, then she leaned over and whispered, "Or should I say, Dr. Gero?"

The eyes of the android grew big for a moment, then they narrowed again in frustrated anger as Buffy began to play with the android's severed hand.

"I wonder if I can make this into a glove?" she said in her most vacant cheerleader tone, "I'd be the…"

Suddenly everybody looked away, to the south-east, as two strong chi's were sensed inbound.

"Who's that?" Gohan said to Krillin.

"I don't know," Krillin said, "It does feel familiar. Maybe it's…."

Then two dots became visible that rapidly flew towards them, who then grew into people and who then came to a sudden stop next to the group.

The Z-fighters recognized one of them. It was the kid from the future, the one who had warned them three years ago. He hadn't aged a bit since that day. The only change was a look of sheer horror as he saw the android standing on the ground.

Team Slayer on the other hand recognized the other one. Hell, even the Z-fighters would have recognized her as well if they weren't paying more attention to Future Saiyan. Cause she looked like the spitting image of Buffy.

That is if Buffy had black hair instead of blonde and had sprouted a Saiyan tail from her very shapely ass.

As Buffy saw the girl she couldn't help but think that if there was one thing even more raining on your wiggin's, like suddenly being confronted with your Saiyan twin, and that was to have your Saiyan twin look at you with a look of absolute horror.

x

* * *

x

The woman had to be crazy, Riley thought as Bulma skimmed the Australian outback low like she was a fighter jock on a strike mission. Skip that, most fighter jocks that Riley knew wouldn't dare to fly this low this fast. And certainly not when they had their children on board. The woman was utterly fearless.

Still, he had to admit Miss Briefs seemed to be quite capable behind the control stick. Better then most of the pilots that Riley had been hauled around by, as bitter experience had taught him over the years. Almost effortlessly she guided her plane at low level across the outback, while managing to keep an eye on her infant who was happily sucking a bottle of milk, and of course trying to find her friends who were out here somewhere. All at the same time. Riley was impressed. If the army could combine this woman's talent for multi-tasking with male strength and clarity of focus the army could probably conquer the world.

While the two of them made for unlikely traveling companions, she being batshit insane that is, they did share a couple of things. First, neither of them liked being left behind because the powers that be thought they would only get in the way. From what he had learned from her she had been with the other Saiyan's gang for like since forever. And he was a soldier who fully understood the risk of going into battle and didn't expect to be given any preferential treatment, just because he 'slept' with the boss' daughter.

Secondly, neither of them was above bending the rules a little (or a lot) if it meant getting what they wanted. Granted, she probably bent the rules a lot more then he ever did. Or could. Being a civvies that is. Still, even in the army there was room to bend the rules to one's need, if one desired to do so. And after all, wasn't creative interpretation of orders what set aside all successful commanders?

When she had learned that her friends had left her behind she had gone mental. As in batshit insane mental. And since he was the only one still left in Sydney she had come to see Belmovekk to chew his ass off. Finding only Riley instead.

Which after some initial shouting turned out to be quite advantageous as she happened to have an executive jet at her disposal and wasn't afraid to use it.

A business arrangement made in heaven!

After all, he wasn't here breaking Satiya's orders. Satiya hadn't told miss Briefs not to come. And he couldn't let her go into a warzone unprotected. Right? See? Creative interpretation of orders in action.

"Where did they go?" Bulma said in a mix of both increasing desperation and anger.

"You mean our friends or those other two?" Riley asked, he himself looking out of the window as well.

"Both," Bulma said, then she looked at Riley, "I can't believe Belmovekk taught you for a year and a half and you never learned to use chi sense."

Why haven't you?

That's what Riley wanted to say, before remembering the lady was batshit insane and such clever remarks might trigger of something less clever but certainly loud and unpleasant.

"It was not part of the original bargain," Riley said instead, "my guess though, the same reason he does not want us to use scouters. Satiya does not want us to know what he's up to."

"True," Bulma snorted, then she gave him an odd look, "Then why do you and the other soldier boys worship the guy?"

"It's a male thing, Ma'am," Riley smiled politely, causing Bulma to frown.

"Lemme guess," she asked, "I wouldn't understand, right?"

"I…, uh, um," Riley stammered as he tried to find the right words.

"Take your time, major," Bulma said as her gaze returned to the outside again, "If thy foot offends thee, veritably chew on it some more. Need any help pushing it in further?"

"No thanks, Ma'am, Riley replied, "I think I can handle it perfectly on my o….., are those…?"

Riley pointed outside, where he could see a few dots in the distance hanging in the air.

"Good eye sight," Bulma said approvingly, then she steered the plane towards the direction Riley had pointed to, "And also, nice save, major."

"Uncle Sam did not make me a major for nothing, Ma'am," Riley smiled.

The plane reached the fighters in no time and as they passed Bulma banked the plane in order to turn it around. And to have a better look of course.

"That's them alright," Riley said as he looked besides Bulma to the side window next to her, "Is that the android?"

"It looks that way," Bulma said, then she waved through the window to her friends below, "Yoohoo!"

The woman was crazy!

x

* * *

x

Vegeta had been watching the fight between Summers and the android with keen interest. Movekk had trained her very well in the Saiyan martial arts, which befit well a man who would at one time might have become his personal instructor if Freeza had not blown up their world. And considering he managed to teach her Cumbri'itsu, the way of the Saiyan scorpion, the most difficult of all the six styles of Saiyan martial arts and one which was absolutely contrary to her 'I make it up as I go along' nature, it had probably taken him considerable patience to teach it to her.

Cumbri'itsu was a good choice to take on the android. It wasn't his favorite style either but its subtle moves and using your opponents moves against him were ideal when dealing with an android that thought he knew your moves. She did well. A credit to Movekk's house.

It was when she was about to destroy the wind up doll when something else happened. The kid from the future returning with a girlfriend this time. While her appearance didn't bother him, she obviously seemed like one of Movekk's offspring with Summers' mother, it was the kid that had him perplexed.

Or better yet, it was what Piccolo said next that had him perplexed.

"Trunks?"

Did he hear that correctly? That kid's name was Trunks? That's my kid's name. His name is Trunks as we…..

By the Seven Hells!

It all made sense now. He came from the future. It had to be.

It was his own son.

x

* * *

x

What the hell is going on here, Gero thought as he looked at the two newcomers, one of whom was obviously a Saiyan girl that somehow looked uncannily close to the one who had just beaten him. More people who weren't in his databanks!

He had made a terrible mistake, no, a terrible series of mistakes. If he were to survive the coming five minutes he would have to make for a radical rethink of his actions.

The unthinkable had to be done.

He needed to return to his lab.

x

* * *

x

"Trunks," a voice said, but Trunks didn't hear it. All this very moment the here and the now only consisted of a single android.

One which he didn't recognize.

This was bad.

Really bad.

"Trunks," the voice said again but again he paid no attention to it.

"Who's that?" he asked the Z-fighters, "You've been fighting him, haven't you?"

"What do you mean, who's that?" Vegeta said as he pointed towards the android, "That's the android you warned us about."

"I've never seen him before in my life," the young Saiyan from the future said dumbfounded.

"Trunks," a voice said softly hissing in his ear, still no attention being paid though.

"These aren't the androids?" Piccolo said as he voiced what everybody was thinking.

"These aren't the androids?" Krillin said in utter shock as he looked at the vile thing, "How can this be? It's an android."

"You guys are daft," Spike said as he reached for another cigarette, "if future boy here says it's not his pair of bots it obviously means there are more. Hello, similar attack in New York ring a bell?"

"I hate to say this," Xander echoed, "but if Robo-Spike starts making sense we are screwed."

"Trunks!" a voice meanwhile hissed angrily in his ears, followed by an elbow in his side, "Look!"

As he finally paid attention to Mayan Trunks looked aside and finally realized there were more people present then just the Z-fighters.

"My father," Mayan said nervously as she positioned herself on the other side of Trunks, "and ohmigod! It's Bu…., Bu…., my sister."

As Trunks looked around he began to recognize faces.

"Is that Xander?" he said surprised, "Uncle Xander. He looks so different. And there, Faith. I don't recognize the bleached blonde guy tho….."

As Trunks started to take notice his chi sense also started to take notice.

"Good lord!" he said aghast, "There's no way they could all be _this_ strong! Your sister alone….."

Before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by sound of an approaching small passenger jet.

x

* * *

x

"Maybe it's no big deal," Krillin said suddenly cheerful, "Our history has obviously changed from his, why not the androids' appearances?"

"God, let it be something that simple," Xander said as he briefly glanced upwards.

"I hope so too," Tien sighed. Then came the noise of jet engines as suddenly a jet came over at a low level overpass.

"Bulma?" Krillin said as he and the others looked up.

x

* * *

x

It was obvious what had to be done, Gero thought. That was the advantage of having made himself into an android. Like #19 he had given himself an artificial brain in addition to his own. Only unlike #19 he was still in overall charge.

Gero's mind was a maelstrom of conflicting emotions, most of it raging with anger. But with the extra set of brains and computing power came at least some form of calm, logic and reason in a situation like this. Once the course was set he only needed to find a distraction to escape, and escape in such a way to make it to the lab unnoticed. If only he could put some distance between them, their inability to track him could be his trump card.

And then came the large jet aircraft that overshot them and then turned.

He recognized the logo on the tail immediately and understood who was on board.

Bulma!

The Capsule Corp. whore had come to gloat. Well, he'd give her something to gloat alright.

"I told the truth when I said you all had no chance of winning," he cackled as his emotions got the better of him again, I'm going to get #17 and #18 to finish you all!"

Then the android let loose all the remaining chi he had gathered from the blonde girl in one fell blast that erupted between him and everybody. The blast of which was so big that the Capsule Corp. jet flew right into it.

DOOM!

An explosion with a light intensity so massive, it almost dwarfed the one Vegeta had unleashed on #19. And with everybody so much closer to it they all had to shield themselves in order to escape injury.

As soon as he saw his mother's aircraft fly into the blast Trunks moved. She may be a younger version of his mother, she may not even be his mother because they were, as Mayan had posed, in an alternate reality. But she was still his mother no matter what. A decade of protective instincts kicked in and he rushed into the heart of the explosion to safe her.

Only to find that no one was there.

"Mother?" Trunks said horrified as the dust began to settle and there was no trace of his mother to be found.

"Mother," he said devastated, then he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Mayan's.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "I don't know what to….."

"DAMN!" Vegeta yelled as he rose into the air and looked around, "He's gone! He got away!"

Vegeta's outburst caused Trunks to look at him. And he had murder in his eyes. Not that Vegeta noticed.

"Damn it!" Vegeta said angry as golden chi flames erupted around him again, "I am not going to let him get away, I will find him!"

He was about to take off when he suddenly found Trunks in his way.

"Don't you even care?" the young man said angry, "Mo…, Bulma just died. Your wife, the mother of your child just died and all you can think off is that android?"

Vegeta looked at him for a short moment, like he just heard the most absurd thing. Then he began to smirk.

"Don't be stupid, boy," he said as he held up three fingers, "First, she means nothing to me. Second, she's alive and over there."

Vegeta nodded to another hill a hundred meters away, where three people could be seen, one of which was Bulma, the other her son, and the third was some unknown soldier who had carried them both. And who by the looks of his tattered uniform had seen better days.

"Now, thirdly, get out of my way!" Vegeta said, "I am going to get that android."

"That might be wise," a new voice said, causing Trunks to look over his shoulder. It was Mayan's father. The mystery Saiyan as his mother had called him. Mayan knew very little of her father other then what Willow had told her before her death. His mother said he had arrived three years before the Android invasion, after Goku had killed Freeza. Goku and his friends had almost fought the mysterious Saiyan but in the end decided that he was mostly harmless. Always on the lookout for some mysterious evil. In the three years that he was on Earth he never posed a danger to the planet so Goku just let him do his thing, whatever it was.

In hindsight he and the others should have probably paid more attention.

Gohan had told him that in the battle against the Androids Mayan's father had assumed leadership after Vegeta had died, fighting the Androids in vain until all he could do was buy enough time for Gohan to make it out alive. After that the only one who could shed more light on him had been Willow. And she got killed when Trunks had still been a kid.

"You're Belmovekk aren't you?" Trunks asked curious.

"That is my name," the Saiyan smiled warmly, "and if I may shed some light on the matter, I think we should give chase to this android, and soon, for he is none other then Dr. Gero himself."

"Dr. Gero?" Trunks said as the world began to blur at just hearing the implication of what he had just heard.

"Movekk! You have been keeping secrets from me," Vegeta said angrily, "How did you know that thing was Gero?"

"I have been chasing him for three years," Belmovekk smiled at Vegeta, but no longer warmly, "Did you really think that by now I would not learn how he really looked like?"

Belmovekk cupped his chin and began to muse.

"But to be honest I did not expect him to become an android himself. I must confess that was a major surprise."

"This is not over between us, Movekk," Vegeta said, then he pointed towards Trunks, "And you lied to us too, you little shit! You told us that Gero had been killed by those androids. Not that he would become one."

Trunks looked at Vegeta, then at Belmovekk, and then the others as they began to gather around them.

"I can only assume that my previous visit changed history, "he said, then he glanced at Mayan, "Ma… my friend here thinks I may have even caused an alternate reality to be formed."

"He said something about Androids #17 and #18," Piccolo said, "Could they be ones you warned us about? And if so, could you tell us how they look? Like in it couldn't hurt to know this time?"

"You're right," Trunks said downcast as he gazed downwards, "#17 is a guy, about my age, with black hair and usually has a scarf around his neck. #18 is a girl, cute too, until you see her kill whole cities with glee. She likes to wear the latest in fashion when she can and she has blonde hair. They both look cold and have round earrings. Mom thinks that they may be related to another before Gero turned them into androids, as they have a habit of bickering amongst themselves like they were brothers and sisters."

"A girl robot, and a cute one too," Buffy grinned as she poked Xander in the side, causing Xander to point a finger at her.

"Buffy I swear, if you make one more dating joke I won't be held responsible for what happens next."

"Do they absorb energy?" Piccolo asked, "Cause these two did."

"Absorb energy?" Trunks said surprised as he and Mayan looked at each other, then he shook his head, "No, they have infinite energy."

"Like the others then," Vegeta said, then he began to smile as if he just had a brilliant idea, "So they won't tire like these two. Hmm, interesting."

"Where's Goku?" Trunks said as he looked around, "Why isn't he here?"

"He came down with the disease you warned about," Krillin said, "Just now, if you could believe it. Yamcha's bringing him home, to get the medicine you gave him."

"Has history changed this much?" Trunks said as he looked at Mayan again.

"You've landed right smack in the middle of Bizarro-land," she said. But she wasn't the only one who said it, as both Mayan and Buffy said in almost unison. Causing the two girls to look at each other.

"I'm sorry," Buffy said as she looked her almost identical twin over, which was stirring memories that were way too uncomfortable for her, "We haven't been introduced. I'm Buffy Summers. And you are?"

"I'm, uh…., um…..," the girl stammered, then Belmovekk interjected.

"You are my daughter, right?" he asked as he looked her over, "Which one are you? Mayan or D…."

"Enough with the chit chat!" Vegeta said impatiently as he let his chi blaze again, "You can have the family reunion when this over. I want to know where Gero's laboratory is!"

"Mother told me it was located somewhere in Afghanistan," Trunks said, "That after the android invasion began and when there were still some governments left that they found it there. That he had been working to build special weapons for some terrorist group called Al-Kay or something."

"You know, you're luck that you're pretty," Mayan said frowning as she looked at Trunks, "Cause smart you aren't. It was Al-Qaida."

"Actually it is Al-Qa'ida, an Islamic terror group seeking to impose its brand of religion on the Middle East," Belmovekk corrected, causing all to look at him, "What? I was investigating a lead. Which in hindsight I should have…."

"Who cares," Vegeta said dismissively, "Now that I know were he's going I'm going after him."

"Smart plan," Piccolo agreed, "Beat him to his lab and stop him before he can activate those androids."

Vegeta let out a loud snort.

"I will do no such cowardly thing," Vegeta said as he smirked again, "I'm going to take on all of these things myself. So far Gero and his pet have proven to be disappointing. I am hungering for a true challenge."

"Tell me he didn't just say that," Buffy said as she facepalmed herself, "Tell me that even he can't be that stupid."

"He just said it, Buff," Xander said as he put his hand on her shoulder to give it a gentle squeeze, "He just did."

"Don't do it!" Trunks said vehemently to Vegeta, "You don't understand! You're underestimating these androids. You have to do as Piccolo says and destroy them before he can activate them. If not we have to avoid them until Goku gets better!"

Just hearing the name of his arch rival was enough to sour Vegeta. Even more to hear it from his own son.

"Wait for Kakarot?" he said incredulously, "Can't you tell that both me and Movekk are now also Super Saiyans? And since I am a prince, a true Saiyan Elite, I am much stronger now then Kakarot ever was? Go wait for Kakarot and cower like a coward, just don't get in my way!"

And with that Vegeta took off like a rocket into the sky.

"What an ass," Faith said as she watched the Saiyan prince disappear in the distance.

"He might be right," Piccolo said grudgingly, "Ever since he became a Super Saiyan he did become stronger then Goku. He might even stand a chance. Maybe he should do as he wants."

"Jolly Green," Faith said aghast, "You've got to be kidding. Even if he is stronger, he's 'too stupid to live' material now. They'll tear him to shreds. No offense, Trunks."

"None taken," Trunks said downcast, then anger began to rise in the young man, "It doesn't matter if my father can go Super Saiyan, or Mayan's father for that matter, or even Goku. I can go Super Saiyan too, but I can't do squat against those androids. I'm going after him. He may be an ass, and as you say, too stupid to live, but he is still my father. I'm not going to let him die again!"

And with that Trunks took off after his father. Leaving the group alone with Mayan.

"You have to understand," she said as she shrugged, "Where we came from, my father..., you..., you could go Super Saiyan too and they still beat you, and Trunks' father, and basically all of you. You can't beat these androids by just being able to glow in the dark. We had to outsmart them. You guys have to outsmart them."

Then she raised her own energy and white chi flames grew around her.

"I have to go," she said, then she took off after Trunks.

"Go after her," Belmovekk said to Buffy, "I must take care of things here. And take Xander with you."

"But what about Riley?," Buffy asked as she looked at the hill top where Bulma was waving to get some attention.

"Precisely why I have to take care of things," Belmovekk said as his eyes narrowed looking at the major, "Me and the major have some unfinished business."

x

* * *

x

"You guys sure took your time," Bulma said indignant as the remaining fighters finally touched down on her steep hill, except Willow, who had been carried, "You really don't give a crap about me any more. Especially you, Belmovekk! Again leaving me stranded like this, this time with my own baby."

She had never really forgiven him for abandoning her with the Sons of Priya, now more then half a year ago. Oh, she would build stuff for him. And she picked up lots of technological stuff from those guys. But she would never, _ever_ ,let any opportunity go to waste to remind him of what he had done to her.

So, after she had yelled at him some more and using some words that made some of the Z-fighters cringe, except for Spike of course, who seemed to be loving it, Belmovekk waited for her to lose momentum.

"I am not making any excuses for what we have done, or point out why it was sheer stupidity for you to come here to begin with," he said and then promptly ignored her as he turned to the injured major Riley. Who had clearly been the one responsible for saving her when Gero's attack had engulfed the aircraft, except it had cost him, having taken the brunt of the explosion. Large burns could be seen through holes in his uniforms and even though he tried to look alright, it was clear that he was anything but.

"You are way out of your league here, Commander Finn," Belmovekk said as he shook his head, "I told you to remain in Sydney. Now look what happened."

"He saved our lives, you asshole," Bulma yelled but the Saiyan ignored her.

"You are injured, Commander Finn," he said as he examined Riley, who still tried to act like nothing had happened.

"I'm fine," Riley said as he tried to shrug, but instead he almost winced.

"Like hell you are," Piccolo said, then he looked at Belmovekk, "Should we give him a….?"

"Better not," the Saiyan mused as he crossed his arms across his chest, "He might get heroic ideas again. I think this calls for Willow. Willow, could you heal Commander Finn?"

As Willow did her magic Bulma spoke up.

"Hey asshole, did you know that that android was Gero?"

"Yeah, we know," Piccolo said and pointed to Belmovekk, "He knew. He's been keeping secrets from us again."

"If Bulma knew how he looked, it cannot have been such a big secret," the Saiyan shrugged, "Apparently all it took was for one of you to ask her."

More dirty looks were thrown towards Belmovekk then just Bulma's. Eventually after the frowning was over Bulma turned to the others again.

"So where are the others?" she asked.

"Vegeta went after Gero," Piccolo said, "and the others went after him. Apparently it would seem his lab is hidden in Afghanistan."

"Afghanistan?" Bulma said surprised, "Why on earth in Afghanistan?"

"Why not?" Piccolo shrugged, "It's a lawless wasteland full of religious nutjobs and warlords fighting each other. Perfect for hiding a mad scientist."

"I see," Bulma nodded.

"I still don't understand one thing though," Faith spoke up, "We have this Trunks guy come all the way from the future to warn us and yet he knows next to nothing about the guy he came to warn us about? Some detail would have helped. Instead he only seems to have this Goku fixation."

"Wait a sec," Bulma said as she waggled her finger, "Did you just call that kid from the future Trunks? My son's name is Trunks. Do you think that…..?"

The group looked at each other, then Piccolo spoke up.

"There is no point in hiding it any longer. Yes, that boy's name is Trunks. Vegeta is his father and you're his mother," Piccolo said, then he pointed at the little boy in Bulma's arms, "He's that baby when he's grown up!"

"WHAT THE…..!" Bulma yelled, as did some of the others.

"I hate time travel," Spike muttered to himself, "It makes for lazy story telling"

"I can't understand why nobody figured it out," Willow said as she looked up, "We figured it out almost three years ago."

"Did you say something about keeping secrets, Piccolo?" Belmovekk said smirking.

"Oh shut up," Piccolo said annoyed, "Goku and I had to make sure the kid would be born. If we had told both her and the Vegetable they would never have gotten that kid. We couldn't risk a grandfather paradox now could we? You on the other hand keep secrets just for fun."

"It pains me that you think of me like that," the Saiyan said with mock indignation.

"Live with it," Piccolo bit back.

Meanwhile Bulma looked at the child in her arms and held him up for a closer examination.

"And to think that I was worried you'd turn out like your father," she said with some considerable relief.

"Bulma," Gohan said as he stepped up to her, "If you see my father, could you tell him what happened? And that if he gets better he should come too?"

"How?" Bulma said as she used one arm to wave around her, "That android destroyed my plane, remember?"

"Gohan," Piccolo said, "There's no need for that. Just take her and the major home. If all we're doing is destroying those inert androids then we have all the firepower we need."

"But….," Gohan said heartbroken as his lip began to tremble, "I thought that…."

"It's okay, baby brother, I'll keep Jolly Green out of trouble for ya," Faith smiled as she knelt in front of him, then she whispered into his ear, "He just wants you safe, cause the fat lady hasn't sung yet. It ain't over yet, baby brother."

Meanwhile Willow had finished taking care of Riley's injuries and Belmovekk knelt next to him.

"Now here's what we're going to do, Commander Finn," he said sternly, " _We_ are going after the missing android and _you_ will return to Sydney. I have a message that I need you to give to Warleader Hammond. This is the message:"

"We have stopped the android invasion of Sydney and encountered two androids. One has been destroyed, the other one has escaped and heads back towards Gero's lab. We have reason to assume that not only is this last android Gero itself, but that he has more androids there waiting for activation. The Saiyan from the future has also returned and warned us that these might be the actual androids themselves. They could be more powerful then we are so we are going to stop Gero from activating them. We now know that not only is Gero's secret lab somewhere in Afghanistan, he is in secret cabal with a terrorist movement called Al-Qa'ida. The recent attacks on the American East Coast and Europe may be connected to this."

"Can you relay this, Commander Finn?" Belmovekk asked, "Or are you going to find another creative excuse to get in my way again."

"I will do as you ask, Satiya," Riley nodded.

"Good," Belmovekk smiled and stood up.

"Let's go," Piccolo said, "We have to find that android before Vegeta does."

"Not so fast," Belmovekk interjected, "Why don't we take a short cut?"

"What kind of short cut?" Piccolo asked, then he raised an eyebrow, "You mean your instant transmission? Don't you need another chi to lock on?"

"There is more then one way to skin a cat," Belmovekk smiled as he took Willow by the shoulders.

x

* * *

x

A chill wind blew across a windswept plateau in Eastern Afghanistan when suddenly a disturbance occurred. The air began to shimmer, then contort into a vortex that grew ever stronger until it spinned like the barrel of a washing machine. Then nine people emerged from the vortex, after which it closed and disappeared.

"God, what a godforsaken shithole," Spike muttered as he drew his leather trench coat close, "No wonder every vamp or demon worth their name shuns this place like the plague."

"Okay, so we're here," Piccolo said as he straightened his turban, then looked around, "But how do we find the lab?"

"Let us use some of that magic of yours again, sister?" Belmovekk smiled at Willow, "Maybe a locator spell?"

"But Belmo, I don't have a map," Willow protested, "I need one of this country. And in detail. And something personal of Gero. Something recent."

"We could use our scouters to generate a map for us," Belmovekk suggested, "And we have the hand Buffy cut off?"

"I never tried it like this," Willow protested but Belmovekk took her hand and smiled.

"Relax, sister," he said calmly, "You have both Earth magic and the Will and the Word at your disposal. The only thing holding you back is your imagination."

It took Willow fifteen minutes to use both the scouters and Gero's robotic hand to come up with a position, after which they all flew to the direction that she had indication. Only to arrive at a shallow grave at the bottom of a steep ravine.

"It's Gero alright," Tien said after he and Krillin had unearthed the buried remains, "And I think the fat one as well."

"Why on Earth would Gero's body be here?" Krillin said flabbergasted as he scratched the back of his head.

"He transferred his brains and consciousness into an android body," Piccolo said, "After that he obviously had no more need for his original body."

"So what now?" Spike asked.

"We split up," Piccolo replied, "the moment you find it you raise your chi to warn us."

"Hello," Spike said sarcastically, "Infinite energy reactor inside, I can't raise my energy even if I wanted too."

Piccolo looked at the vampire with barely veiled annoyance.

"Just make some pretty fireworks in the air," he growled, "Can you do that?"

"No need to get snippy," Spike muttered.

x

* * *

x

He had managed to make it all the way to the bay of Bengal when Gero noticed that they were on to him. He knew that so far they had been unable to track him. But that could only mean two things. Either they could and had so far deceived him. He didn't really think that made a lot of sense, or else they would have found him much more easily in the outback. Or…

They knew where the laboratory was!

Now wishing that he hadn't expanded so much energy in order to escape Gero kicked up his speed. If only he could make it back to the lab in time it would take only a couple of minutes to boot #17 and #18 up.

x

* * *

x

" _You want to know about your father? He did a lot of evil things and I'm sure he's in Hell now. But he also had his good side though. He had a lot of pride and he did his damnest to hide his good side. But I know it was there."_

These were the words his mother had spoken when one day he had asked her about his father. And it had been of some comfort to him knowing that despite what he had heard from Gohan, his father wasn't some colossal prick. It had helped build up an idealized image in his mind.

One that was now brutally shattered.

One of the things both he and Mayan shared growing up was that neither of them had a father. But he knew that of the two of them at least he was still better off. Not only did he still have a mother, he at least had no sister whom she tragically lost. He had always pitied her for that.

But now he wasn't so sure any more. Maybe it was better to have had something and lose it, then finally meet the person you never knew but only idealized and realize that he _was_ a colossal prick?

What kind of man was totally indifferent to the risk to his wife and son?

"She lied to me," Trunks said angry as the wind blew away a tear, "There's nothing good about him. He didn't try to save neither mother nor baby me. That's the worst thing _any_ man could do!"

"Trunks? Did you say something?" Mayan called behind him as they crossed the Indian coast.

"Nothing," Trunks called back, "Just thinking out loud."

No need to bother her with his emotional baggage, right? She already had enough for the both of them.

x

* * *

x

After taking a detour to skirt along the southern slopes of the Himalayas for cover Gero was able to deduce that his pursuers were indeed heading straight for Afghanistan. But not straight towards his hidden lab. Which meant that they only had a general idea. Things were looking up again for him.

"Haha," he laughed as he finally landed close to the lab, "You won't find my lab so easily. Go ahead and waste your time. You'll die soon enough."

"Oh really?" a voice said smug. Causing Gero to freeze up and turn around.

There was nobody.

"Show yourself," Gero said defiantly. But there was no immediate reply.

Then something small began to glow in the darkness from the cave that housed his lab. It was a glowing cigarette.

"If you want my advice, it's better to gloat _after_ you've beaten the good guys, not before," Spike said as he emerged from the cave, "Trust me, I've spent way too much time with a nerd who likes to throw the Evil Overlord list at me."

"You're with them!" Gero snarled, "You attacked me in Sydney."

Spike shrugged as he puffed on his cigarette.

"I'm only with them because I have too," he said, "Not because I want too. They've done things to me. Things that make me into, well, you. I'm a bloody vampire, not the bloody Robocop!"

"There are no such things as vampires," Gero said weary, causing Spike to roll his eyes.

"I see we have a skeptic here," he said as he threw away his cigarette, then he vamped out his face and bend forward, "Boooh!"

Gero took an involuntary step backwards as Spike grinned at him with his vamped out face. Then he cursed in his native language as Spike changed back.

"Oh, and before you get any funny ideas that you should have used vampires and demons instead of humans, let me tell you a tale of somebody who did," Spike said and then proceeded to give Gero a brief account of what happened to him at the hands of the Initiative, how it had backfired on them and how the Saiyan and the Scoobies had used him as their personal whipping boy for the past half year. All in all it was very illuminating to the doctor.

"So what do you want?" Gero asked the vampire.

"I want you to take this sodding chip out of my skull," Spike said as he banged his head with his hand, "With this thing I'm fuckin' neutered. Less then a man. With it I'm just their sodding plaything! Take it out and then you can turn on your doomsday bots for all I care. I care nothing any more about this bloody world. Only my own personal freedom counts. And when I have it, then the world can burn for all I care!"

x

* * *

x

Unknown to Spike and Gero somebody else was watching.

Finding Gero's secret lab wasn't easy in this vertical maze of mountains that made the ones in Australia look like a well laid out road map. But he had been lucky enough to see something whiz by and then came down in this vicinity. Hoping it was the others he had made for it, only find that the vampire was already there.

As was Dr. Gero.

And somehow the vampire was not raising the alarm.

Nor attacking Gero.

Something was wrong here.

During the long wait in Sydney Krillin had heard the story of what had happened in Cleveland and how the vampire had betrayed everybody. Frankly he was amazed that Piccolo had spared his undead life. Sure, maybe Piccolo might feel that after Goku had spared his life in the past, some karma was in order. But there's karma and making amends. And there's pure evil. Something which this Piccolo never was, despite always claiming that he used to be the Demon King.

The vampire on the other hand was pure evil, kept in check by chips and bytes. And just because you couldn't actually lay a finger on somebody didn't mean that you couldn't cause actual hurt. Piccolo may have spared his life, but Belmovekk should have staked that son of a bitch, not kept him around.

And now they were reaping the whirlwind in the form of the vampire's treachery as he seemed to be making common cause with Gero.

x

* * *

x

Inside Gero's lab Spike was looking around.

"Nice place you have here, Doc," he said appreciatively, then he tapped an old poster of Goku, "I also like the decorations. Nothing says insane hatred more then keeping an image of your hated enemy around. I must confess I've never gone quite down that route myself."

"Soon it will be over," Gero said as he picked up a small box, "Once I've activated #17 and #18 we will be victorious."

"Yeah, speaking about that," Spike said as he turned around towards the doctor, "when are we going to take care of my little problem?"

"After we've activated #17 and #18 of course," Gero said and walked to the back of the cave, with Spike following him. In the back of the cave there was a room guarded by a thick door, locked with a security coded lock.

"Soon it will all be over," Gero said as he punched in the code and the door opened, revealing a dark chamber, with in it three coffins, all nice in a row against a wall.

"I thought you'd said there were only two other droids, Doc," Spike asked as he followed the doctor inside.

"Only two that matter," Gero said and punched a button on two of the coffins, after which they began to open. Inside each was an inert body, staring ahead blankly.

"Just like the kid said," Spike said as he briefly examined the two android's faces, then he turned towards Gero, "This is all peachy, Doc, but we still haven't fixed my problem first."

"Are you crazy?" Gero said incredulously, "There's no time. They're all out there right now."

Next thing Spike lashed out and grabbed the controller from Gero's remaining hand.

"Make time!" Spike said.

"You're mad!" Gero said aghast as Spike left the android holding room.

"I've been called worse," Spike shrugged, "Now fix me Doc or I'll fix things so they'll fix you."

"That doesn't make any sense," Gero said.

"It will be once the Big Scary and his friends come marching in," Spike grinned, then he pointed to his head, "the chip, remember!"

"There's the auto-doc," Gero said as he pointed towards a different room.

"Then what are we waiting for," Spike said as he pointed the way.

"But there is no time," Gero protested as they walked to the room with the auto-doc, "It will take at least a day for the auto-doc to operate on you and then heal you."

"I'm a vampire, Doc," Spike said indifferent to Gero's plight, "I heal fast. Trust me, I don't need a full day. A few hours will do."

Gero wanted to say that they were down to minutes not hours, when a loud bang could be heard.

BANG!

Somebody was banging on the door.

"They're here," Gero said.

x

* * *

x

"Tough door," Tien said as he and Krillin stepped back from the door that now protected the entrance to Gero's lab, "It doesn't break so easily."

"And you guys call yourself strong men?" Faith's voice sneered.

"Hey," Tien said defensively, "It's hard to bring your full strength to bear in such a narrow cave."

"Then maybe we should be blow it up instead?" Faith said, unsympathetic to their plight.

"Are you crazy," Krillin said as he gestured all around them, "You could blow up half the mountain and everything in it."

"Gee, and here I was thinking that was the master plan all along," she replied.

"She's right," Piccolo said as he raised his arm and aimed his hand at the door, "Get out of the way."

"Fine," Tien said as he rolled his eyes and walked past Piccolo, "Have it your way. Don't blame me if the whole Hindu Kush comes down falling on top of you."

"I'm not that clumsy," Piccolo growled.

x

* * *

x

BANG!

Another slam on the door reverberated through the cave as Gero and Spike walked into the main cave again.

"They're here," Gero said aghast, then he turned to Spike, "You have to give me the controller!"

DOOM!

With a loud explosion the door guarding Gero's cave suddenly blasted in, causing dust and debris to blow through the cave. But when the dust settled one tattooed Super Saiyan, one Namek, two Slayers and four more humans stepped inside the cave.

"Lucy, you've got some s'plainin' to do," one of them said.

Gero was the first to break the revelry as he turned towards Spike.

"Do something! Stop them!"

Spike looked back with a look of utter disbelief.

"The only way I can stop them is by letting them kill me," he said incredulously, then he shrugged, "Sorry Doc."

Next thing Spike punched Gero in the gut hard and as the doctor double folded he grabbed his neck in a choke hold.

"I got him!" Spike said triumphantly as he dragged the luckless android along, then he gave the controller to Belmovekk, "They're in the back. Safe and sound."

"Spike, you traitorous bastard," Faith said accusingly, "You betrayed us."

"No I didn't," Spike said as he began to grin again, "I was just trying to win him over. Win his trust. Get him to show where the goods are."

To his credit Spike said it with such sincerity he could actually be nominated for next year's Oscars.

"Yeah, right," Faith snorted, "Now that we're on to you, you just betrayed him as well."

"Technically I think that makes him a double-crosser," Piccolo added.

"Yeah, but a double agent acts on orders," Willow added, "Spike wasn't following any so I think that qualifies as a triple cross."

"For god sakes," Spike said annoyed, "Does it really matter? It got the job done, didn't it?"

x

* * *

x

"They look so harmless."

Willow studied the male android in his steel coffin up close.

"Looks can be deceiving," Tien said standing next to her and Krillin as they looked at the two androids, still inert in the storage room, "Sure they look innocent. But they had Trunks shit his pants. And Trunks killed Freeza and his father like they were nothing."

"I wonder who they were," Krillin said sadly, "It must be terrible to be turned into an android against your will."

"I don't think we will ever know," Tien shrugged, "And frankly I don't care. The sooner Piccolo and Belmovekk destroy them, the better off we'll all be."

"Have a heart," Willow said, "Maybe Bulma could restore them to….."

"And what if she can't?" Tien countered, "We can't run the risk. These two aren't just weapons of mass destruction, they're beyond that. They're planet killers."

"But they haven't done anything yet?" Krillin argued.

"Like I said," Tien shrugged, "If these two can make Trunks shit his pants then that's all the evidence I need. Better safe then sorry."

"It's not like Trunks hasn't been wrong before," Krillin muttered softly.

x

* * *

x

Meanwhile in the main part of the cave Piccolo kept Gero pinned against the wall, while the vampire Spike sat bored on a chair, smoking one of his obnoxious cigarettes again. Faith was sitting on another chair, equally bored.

"You know, that Bulma should really come up with a way to keep strong dudes like him chained up," she said, "I mean, nothing wrong with the tried and tested means of having to hold homicidal robots by hand, but there has to be a better way. Even the Council had stuff that could hold a Slayer."

"Maybe some shiny talisman?" Spike suggested, earning him a dirty look by Faith.

"Shut up, Spike!" she said.

"Fine," Spike muttered as he looked away, "See if I care."

Next thing Belmovekk came back into the cave from the outside.

"Buffy and Xander are on their way," he said as he took off his scouter, "they were trailing the others but at least they know where to go. Do you want me to hold him for a while?"

"What I want is for you to is to go in there and destroy those androids," Piccolo said without taking his eyes of Gero, "When are you going to destroy those things?"

"It is not that easy," Belmovekk countered, "those things represent a major technological breakthrough. If they could be reprogrammed…"

"Like your pet vampire?" Piccolo growled.

"Hey, you spared him," Belmovekk countered.

"A decision I already regret," Piccolo snorted.

"There is still a great danger to be fought," the Saiyan said as he picked up the remote controller and looked it over one more time, "We could use all the help we can get."

"YOU ARE NOT TOUCHING MY ANDR….," Gero yelled, only to be smothered by Piccolo.

"Now what did we talk about?" Piccolo said to the robot doctor like he was a small child, "You shut the fuck up and I don't squeeze your neck in two. The more you talk, the more my fist wants to contract. The more you shut up, the longer you get to live."

Having intimidated Gero Piccolo looked at Faith.

"Go wait for your fellow Slayer outside," he said, "the place can be hard to find."

"B. doesn't need my help," Faith said incredulously, "She's got one of those scouter thingies."

"Then go smoke one of your cigarettes instead," Piccolo said as he raised his voice, "Outside! Cause they stink. And take the vampire with you."

"I don't even have any cigarettes," Faith protested but Piccolo wasn't impressed.

"Borrow one from the vampire. He's been smoking like a chimney since yesterday."

x

* * *

x

"So why do you think they want us to be scarce?" Spike asked as he and Faith were puffing down their cancer sticks.

"What do you think?" Faith snorted, "to slay or not to slay. Big B. wants more additions to his private army, Jolly Green doesn't want any lose ends. They're fighting it out right now. Figuratively of course."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Spike shrugged, "On the upside it would mean that I wouldn't be the only freak any more."

WHACK!

Without warning Faith lashed out and smacked Spike on the head.

"FUCK!" Spike said as he dropped his cigarette and reached for his head, "What the hell did you do that for, you crazy bitch?"

"That's for trying to betray us," she said, then she took another huff from her cigarette. Spike gave her a dirty look, then he bend over and reached for his fallen cigarette.

"Dumb crazy ass Slayers," he muttered aggrieved as he found that his cigarette was extinguished.

"So why did you do it?" Faith suddenly asked.

"Do what?" Spike asked as he relit his cigarette.

"Betray us, you brain-dead zombie!" Faith said.

Spike gave her a look, then he shrugged.

"They may have put a sodding chip in my brain telling me I can't kill, that doesn't mean it tells me to bend over, spread my arse cheeks and that I have to like it."

"I suppose," Faith nodded sympathetically, "but still, it doesn't…."

"They treat me like crap, you know," Spike continued, then he began to talk in poor imitations of the Scoobies, "All they do is tell me to do this, Robo-Spike, do that, you undead freak, shut up, Spike, get lost, Spike, how does it feel to be emasculated, Spike, you suck, Spike, you…"

"Gee," Faith interjected as she finished her cigarette and threw it away, "And here I was thinking you were William the Bloody once. Turns out you're just a whiny sniveling little teenager instead."

Spike gave her another look, then he began to chuckle.

"Yeah, I did sound a little angsty, didn't I?" Spike grinned, "Guess I'm just an evil bastard. It was worth a try, wasn't it?"

"I suppose so," Faith said begrudgingly, then she looked aside into the sky, "B.'s coming."

Spike also looked to the direction Faith was. He may not have any chi sense, he did possess some of Earth's first attempts at scouter technology.

Buffy and Xander were coming in low and hot as they approached the cave that held Gero's lab.

"Sure took you're sweet time, B.," Faith grinned as she greeted her fellow Slayer, "What took you so long?"

"No time," Buffy panted as she touched down, "Where's Belmo?"

"In there," Faith said pointing towards the cave.

"I hope it's not to la….," Buffy tried to say, but then she turned around and looked into the sky, "Oh no!"

x

* * *

x

Inside the lab Piccolo and Belmovekk were locked into a heated argument.

"I can't believe you actually want to keep those things intact!" Piccolo yelled angry, "That you can think you can reprogram them into your little minions!"

"It worked for Spike," Belmovekk countered.

"And he just tried to betray us all," Piccolo yelled back, "Great job!"

"That is because Spike has never really been reprogrammed," the Saiyan argued, "I am talking of taking them to Bulma and let her work her magic."

"You don't know if it will work!" Piccolo shouted.

"It is worth a try," Belmovekk argued, "If they are indeed the two most powerful beings in this world then imagine how useful they could be?"

"And what if they don't?" the Namek said a little less agitated.

"As long as we take care not to activate them we could still destroy them," the Saiyan said.

Piccolo didn't respond immediately, then he sighed.

"I can't believe you're actually talking me into this," he said dejected, "Oh, we're going to regret this, I can feel it."

"Maybe that is because you're feeling me!" a new voice said.

It was Vegeta.

Standing in the entrance of the cave Vegeta stood arms folded across his chest and the others behind him.

"If any of you homo's touch those androids you're dead," the Prince of all Saiyans said matter of fact.

"I'm sorry," Buffy said behind Vegeta, "He was too fast. We couldn't…"

"Silence!" Vegeta thundered, "I want those androids turned on so I can test myself."

"He's got to be kidding, right," Faith whispered to Xander.

"If only," Xander whispered back.

"What an interesting turn of events," Gero smirked at Piccolo.

"Shut up," Piccolo said as he began to squeeze some more, then he glanced at Belmovekk, "You know what you have to do, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Belmovekk nodded, then he changed into Super Saiyan, "Over my dead body, my Prince."

Shrugging Vegeta transformed as well.

"So be it!"


	7. Interlude 'Hunter, Prey'

**Interlude: 'Hunter, Prey'**

x

x

AN: _One of the most interesting things about writing is that sometimes the story goes in a different way then you originally intended to. Some writers call it their muse, or their plot bunny. I like to think that it's the characters who are taking control of the story and are telling me where it should be going. This is starting to happen with these little interludes as I find myself more and more telling tales of Trunks' reality. Even if so far he's not in them yet. ;). This is probably the 2_ _nd_ _unplanned part of Buffy and Xander's trek in the post-Android Invasion world._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 16, somewhere, sometime

x

"See anything?"

Xander passed the binoculars on to Buffy. They were both lying amidst some bushes on top of the hills overlooking San Jose. Behind them was the car, with in it Mayan. Before them lay the urban sprawl of San Jose and to the north of it San Francisco.

"I see plenty," Xander sighed, "We're over here, there is an airport, over there is an even bigger airport. And right there is Capsule Corp.."

"I see," Buffy said as she peered through the binoculars, "Then what's with the sarcasm, what's the dire?"

"Oh nothing much," Xander said and pointed to somewhere below, "See that down there?"

"What?" Buffy asked as she looked to where Xander had pointed, "You mean that refugee camp?"

"That's not a refugee camp," Xander said sullen, "That's a military training camp."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked uncertain as she glanced at Xander.

"Have you forgotten?" Xander said as he tapped his forehead, "Soldier guy, remember? Those aren't Smokey the Bear and his friends doing PTA down there, Buff. Those are army drill instructors down there. Remember how they were rounding up all the men to fight? They need to be trained in order to do so. And there's another camp. And a gazillion roadblocks in between. It's Full Metal Jacket down there, they've got more men then San Francisco's gay district and they're _all_ between us and Capsule Corp."

"Ooh," Buffy said, then she gave back the binoculars to Xander, "So what are we going to do now?"

"Damned if I know," Xander said as he took the binoculars and put them beside him. Then he reached for a bag and pulled out a map of the greater San Francisco area.

"We're here," he said pointing at a spot on the map, "Capsule Corp. is over there. There's at least half a dozen training camps that we know off. Since most of these people have been shanghaied by the government chances are they aren't going to be happy. Remember how some kids used to skip school because they hated class? The military's no different, but they tend to shoot people who skip class, not send them to detention. There must be a lot of soldiers about making sure they catch deserters. We're not going to be able to sneak in there like we did in the Valley."

"Can't we fly?" Buffy asked, "I know Belmo never taught us to properly fly, but its like what, 20 miles. It's not like we have to fly across the whole country."

"I don't want to risk it," Xander said shaking his head, "You heard the radio. One of the androids is a guy with dark hair, the other's a girl with blonde hair and they can both fly. Anyone else you know who fits that profile?"

"No need to get snippy," Buffy muttered, "We could do it at night, couldn't we?"

"How can I say this without sounding like an ass," Xander said lost for the right words as he put his hands together, "It's no longer the 1850's, Buff. Nor is it Sunnydale. They've got night vision gear and they're on the look out for two people who can fly. Unlike the androids I don't think we can dodge a surface to air missile. And believe me, the place is probably ringed with them. I know I would."

Buffy didn't immediately reply, instead she looked at the map and studied it intently.

"How about we come in from the sea?" she finally asked.

"I spotted at least one Patriot battery along the coast," Xander said shaking his head, "There are probably more further along the coast."

They were still in what later was called the first phase of the Android Invasion. In those days governments and people still believed there was strength in numbers and many people fled to major cities that were heavily defended by the military. As time went on people only learned that the military was unable to defend them from the androids and that this just provided the androids with easy to find targets of opportunity.

After that the trend became to scatter, make it harder for the androids to find large numbers of people, construct elaborate hiding places from which to hopefully survive android attacks. A strategy which was considered more successful. Only in the sense of course that it slowed down what would become an inevitable decline of the human race.

Unfortunately for Buffy and Xander they were still a long way from that.

"I wish we could just call Willow," Buffy sighed, "I'm pretty sure that a company like Capsule Corp. would be able to get us."

"No sense in wishing for what you don't have, Buff," Xander said. And rightly so. In the wake of the Android Invasion governments had shut down all lines of communication. The official line was to reserve them only for the army, police and emergency services, but the real reason was probably to prevent the spread of fear and panic as it became more and more clear that there was no real defense against the androids.

For a moment Xander contemplated chastising Buffy for making a public wish, but it no longer really mattered. Just days for the start of the Android Invasion a vengeance demon had reported to Giles and told them that something terrible was coming and that D'Hoffryn was shutting them all down and relocating to a dimension more favorable then this one.

"Then I guess we have no choice," Buffy said, "Like Belmo once said, if the front door looks locked and there's no way to make it in the back, break in through the front window instead."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how he said it," Xander chuckled softly. It was also the first time she actually mentioned his name since the destruction of Sunnydale. Maybe there was hope after all.

x

* * *

x

Using the time between nightfall and sunset Xander, Buffy and Mayan used a combination of speed and stealth to descend into the coastal plain. From there they managed to sneak past some of the road blocks and military camps that littered the coastal plain between them and San Jose. There were some moments that he was almost shitting bricks, but overall Xander thought they were making great progress.

Of course they were greatly helped by the curfew that had emptied the streets and the lights blackout that had darkened the city. Which meant that any vehicle or person that they heard, or any sudden moving lights just had to be trouble.

It was when they had entered San Jose that they came upon the first signs that things had really changed since the Android Invasion. On a lamppost the lifeless body of a young man hung from a noose.

"Ohmigod!" Buffy exclaimed aghast as she looked away, shielding Mayan from the sight as well. Leaving it to Xander to have a closer look. While she had seen her fill of dead, injured or mutilated humans in her career as the Slayer, or their journey through the Valley, it was still the violence that humans inflicted upon humans that horrified her the most. Especially as she considered herself as humanity's defender.

Xander gave the young man a brief look over. He was no more older then he was. Soldier guy that was inside him noticed all the small signs that despite the young man's civilian dress this man was actually a soldier. Or at least one that was in basic training. The sign hanging from his neck that said 'DESERTER' basically confirmed it.

"What have we become?" Xander said shaking his head in disgust. He may not share Buffy's rosy view of humanity, but this kind of casual disregard for basic human rights and human life in general, it was so far beyond pessimism, it made depressive Russian novelists look cheerful by comparison.

"Come," Xander said as he turned his back to the corpse, walked back to Buffy and took her by the shoulder, "This evil is beyond us."

x

* * *

x

They had such a lucky streak, making it 3/5th all the way into San Jose, when it finally ran out. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was bad karma, maybe it was plain rotten luck. Or maybe it was just because they had gotten this far and gotten too cocky.

They were racing through a series of gardens, jumping over fences when instead of landing in another garden they came down in a street.

A street which just happened to be full with a military police patrol.

"Oh crap," they could only just jointly mutter as a dozen rifles and machine guns were aimed at them.

For a moment nobody said anything, unsure how to proceed from this strange turn of events. Then the one thing Xander feared most happened.

"ANDROIDS!" one of the military policemen shouted in fear.

"NO WAIT!" another voice yelled, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

Next thing a torchlight went on and shined upon Buffy and Xander, coming to rest upon the small huddled mass of Mayan.

"They're carrying a baby," the soldier holding the torchlight said, "They can't be the androids."

An almost visible sigh of relief went through the soldiers and some of them even lowered their guns a little.

"You idiots!" one of the soldiers who carried a rank insignia said to them, "You came _this_ close to getting killed!"

"I…., uh…, we….," Xander stammered as he briefly glanced at Buffy, "We're sorry?"

"Sorry don't cut it, Sonny," the soldier said, "You're way past the curfew. How many times do I have to tell you kids, anyone caught after curfew runs the risk of getting shot."

"Uh…, we won't do it again?" Buffy said sheepishly.

"Damn straight," the soldier said, "You're going to jail. Henderson, take her and the child to the car."

One of the soldiers came forth and took Buffy by the shoulders.

"Come miss," he said gently, "this way, please."

"Wait," Buffy said with growing alarm, "What about my friend?"

"That depends," the leader of the soldiers said, "Do you have a pass, Sonny?"

"A pass? What kind of pass?" Xander asked.

"What kind of pass?" the leader of the soldiers said incredulously, "Jesus Christ, Son, where have you been? Your get free out of jail pass, your essential services pass, your ESP! Please tell me you have one?"

"I don't think he has one, LT," another soldier said sadly.

Xander looked at the soldiers, then at Buffy. If Bakersfield had been any indication this wasn't going to end well.

"Sonny," you have ten seconds to present me your ESP or by order of the Android Defense Act you're royally fucked."

"Look, you got me," Xander said as he held up his two hands so he could be cuffed, "I ain't got your funny paper. So please let me have one moment with my girl and then you can take me to your leader."

The soldier holding Buffy looked at the lieutenant, who then nodded.

"Let them say goodbye," he said, upon which the soldier let go of Buffy.

"Xander," Buffy said as ran towards him and embraced him, "I won't let them take you away. Not again, not ever!"

Not good Xander thought, she was getting desperate again. If he didn't want another 12 dead soldiers Xander had to act fast.

"Easy, Buff," Xander whispered softly in her ear, "Just go with them. Go to Capsule Corp., tell Bulma and her father to flex some legal muscle and everything will be alright. What's the worst that can happen? That they sent me to boot camp for a few days. Besides, if push comes to shove I can always escape."

"Are you sure?" she asked as she wiped away a tear, "You promised, remember? You'd never leave me."

"Not even the end of the world could stop me, Buff," Xander said absolutely straight faced.

"That's enough," the lieutenant said and nodded towards a soldier, "Henderson, take her and the child to the car and take them to jail. And make it fast, so she won't have to see."

"See what?" Buffy said suspiciously as the soldier took her along.

"I hate this job," the lieutenant sighed, then he looked at another soldier, "alright, Jake, prepare the noose."

"Noose, what noose?" Buffy called out as the soldier tried to drag her to the car, which turned out wasn't so easy as she refused to go any further and used her chi to turn herself into the unmoveable object.

"She won't move, LT," the soldier called out.

"She's a friggin' teenager, private," the lieutenant replied, "What are you? A little girl?"

"She's putting up one hell of a fight," the soldier said back.

"Go help Gaylord over there," the lieutenant said and pointed to two more soldiers. Meanwhile a noose was thrown over a lamppost and Xander's hands were tied behind his back.

"Now remember, we're only following orders, son," the lieutenant said to Xander.

"Gee, I wonder who else said that," Xander said as a soldier put the noose around his neck, then he looked at Buffy who had murder in her eyes as three soldiers struggled to contain her, all the while she was still holding Mayan. This was going to get ugly.

"It gives me no pride to do this," the lieutenant said, "but you have been found in dereliction of the night curfew and lacking any correct papers. By order of the Android Defense Act you are hereby found guilty of desertion. The punishment for which is death."

"XANDER!" Buffy cried out!

"May God have mercy upon your soul," the lieutenant said solemnly as he raised his hand.

Next things seemed to happen in slow motion for Xander. It was like he could see that in the time it would take for the lieutenant to lower his hand, the signal for the soldiers to hang him, Buffy would go ballistic and start killing them.

He wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to allow twelve more people on her conscience. He'd kill them first.

He was about to flex his arms in order to break his bonds when suddenly a car came around the corner and come to a stop just in front of them. As everybody looked at the car the doors opened and two women came out. One of the women was Willow, their Willow. The other one was Bulma Briefs. And she had murder in her eyes.

"STOP THIS CHARADE!" Bulma yelled as she stomped towards the soldiers, "No more of this!"

"Ma'am," the lieutenant said, "Not only are you interfering with federal business, you are in direct violation of the curfew."

"You want papers, Gruppenfuhrer?" Bulma said disgusted as she pulled forth a laminated ID card and held it up for the lieutenant to see, "Here, read 'm and weep, Colonel Klink!"

The lieutenant examined the card carefully, then he took another look at her irate face, then he returned the card.

"You are free to go, Miss Briefs," he said, "but I think it would be best for you to leave. You are still interfering in official federal business."

"Oh yes," Bulma snorted, "Your little lynch party. How many does this one make, Grand Kleigel!"

"You're out of line, miss," the lieutenant said, "We're only carrying out orders."

"Befehl is befehl is no defense, Grand Wizard," Bulma retorted, "Nuremburg ruled on that."

"If you have any problems with government policy I suggest you take it up with your congress man," the lieutenant replied, "Considering you're the head of Capsule Corp. they might even listen. Until then, I order you to leave."

"No I won't," Bulma said as she stared down the lieutenant, "That man is a Capsule Corp. employee and I demand that you stop your little lynch mob and release him to me!"

To his credit the lieutenant didn't cave in under her stare.

"That man carried no ESP," he said, "He is therefore in direct violation of the Android Defense Act."

"Cool it, Adolf," Bulma said as she pulled out another card, "Here's his ESP."

The lieutenant took the card and examined it carefully, then he looked at Xander's face and shone his torchlight on him again.

"If this man has an ESP, why did he wander the streets past curfew without one?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because he's stupid?" Bulma said.

"Hey," Xander protested but Bulma paid him no attention.

"This guy risked everything when he heard that his girlfriend was in one of the refugee camps," Bulma said, "And the idiot left his ESP behind."

"Hmmm," the lieutenant said as he handed back the ESP to Bulma, then he looked one more time at Xander, "It still sounds fishy to me."

Then he gestured his men to take the noose off Xander.

"Take it off and take him and the girl to jail."

"Oh no you don't," Bulma said defiantly as she took another step towards the lieutenant and looked him in the eyes, "They're coming with me."

"Ma'am, with all due respect," the lieutenant said, "You saved him from the noose, take your money and run. They're still in violation of the curfew. You'll get them eventually."

Bulma pulled forth a cell phone and dialled a number.

"Look, you little Pol Pot," she said as the phone began to ring, "I'm calling your superior, General Westgate. Once this call is finished I _will_ have my people and your sergeant will have your stripes."

"You're bluffing," the lieutenant said wide eyed, "The phones are down, there's no way you call the general even if you had his number."

Bulma leaned over and smiled evilly.

"I run one of the biggest high tech companies in this country. Do you really think this blackout could stop me?"

The lieutenant looked to flabbergasted to speak. Then Bulma smiled even more.

"And guess what, I'm through. Hello, you're speaking with Bulma Briefs from Capsule Corp.. I would like to speak to the general please. You'll get him? That would be great. I'm not going anywhere."

Bulma put her hand over the phone speaker and winked.

"So, Adolf junior, have you made your mind up?"

A thousand emotions played on the soldier's face, then he turned around and made a gesture towards his men holding Xander and Buffy.

"They're going with her," he said as he walked away to go sit in his Humvee.

"Good choice," Bulma said approvingly as she turned off her cell phone.

"I hate this job," the lieutenant could be heard muttering before he closed the door of the Humvee.


	8. Chapter Four

**Chapter 4**

' **Knives Out'**

x

x

AN 2017: _I've decided to remove some of the old TtH authors comments as sometimes they probably make little sense in the current posting_ _._

 _draygore: I'm glad you like it. To be honest I've never thought of Gohan getting a new friend that much before, mostly because most of my attention has and still is on fitting the Scoobies into the DBZ verse. But I think I mentioned it at one point that after the events of the previous story Piccolo took Faith along with him to train with Goku and Gohan. As he's now basically the godfather of both Gohan and Faith. So think of her as Gohan's big sister. With foul language._

x

* * *

x

A-Day +1

x

"Hey, there's another one in here."

"What?" Tien and Krillin gasped out aloud as Willow was peering into the one coffin that wasn't open.

"I said there's another android inside," Willow said, perched on her toes as she tried to look through the small window, "And I think it's a big one."

"Good lord!" Tien exclaimed in shock, "How many of these things are there? They're like rats. Kill one and ten more come crawling out of the woodwork.

"God I hope not!" Krillin said nervously as he looked around the cave to see if there were more coffins.

"Let's open it up," Tien said as he walked towards the closed coffin, "let's see what we're dea….."

"SO BE IT!" suddenly came from the main cave that made up Gero's hidden lab, soon followed by a strong gust of wind.

"What the hell?" Willow said as the strong wind hit her, next thing Krillin and Tien ran out of the room, leaving her alone, "Guys?"

Not wanting to be left alone Willow ran after them as well.

In the main cave she found two Saiyans, both transformed into Super Saiyan and golden chi flames blazing, staring each other down.

"Belmo?" Willow said aghast as the two Saiyans then charged each other.

Both Saiyans crashed into each other and tried to grapple one another, coming to short abrupt stops as one managed to grab the other, only to lose it as the other managed to break free.

"They are not for you, my Prince," Belmovekk said taking hold of Vegeta, upon which the Saiyan prince broke free and managed to grab Belmovekk's arm in return.

"Yield to your lord and master, Movekk," Vegeta yelled as he twisted Belmovekk's arm.

"In this matter, never!" Belmovekk grunted in pain, then he used his free legs and swept Vegeta to the floor, crashing on top of him, "Stand down, my Prince, this is no time to indulge in personal pleasure."

"Where is your lust for combat? Your honor?" Vegeta screamed in disgust as he managed to overthrow Belmovekk and take hold of him again, "What kind of Saiyan are you?"

"A responsible one?" Belmovekk replied as he managed to turn the tables on Vegeta again.

Meanwhile the others looked on in horror.

"They're evenly matched," Krillin said as he watched enthralled.

"For now," Tien said appraisingly.

"What do you mean?" Krillin asked, glancing at Tien.

"They're both still trying to stop the other," Tien said, "But there's a difference between the two. Deep down Belmovekk only wants to stop Vegeta. Whereas Vegeta has no qualms killing anybody to get what he wants."

"Oh," Krillin said.

"But why are they fighting?" Willow asked.

"HEY!" a voice yelled.

It was Piccolo, still pinning Gero against the rock wall.

"Quickly! Destroy those androids before it's too late!" the Namek said.

"Us?" Krillin said back, upon which the Namek briefly rolled his eyes.

"No, your mother! Who else?" he said exasperated, "As you see I'm kinda busy."

"NOOO!" Vegeta yelled, "Destroy those androids and I will kill…."

Then the Saiyan prince ate Belmovekk's elbow in his face and he had to return his attention back to the fight with his fellow Saiyan.

"Come," Tien said to Krillin as he nodded backwards, "Let's do it."

"But you heard Vegeta," Krillin countered, He'll kill us if we do anything."

"Vegeta can kiss my shiny ass," Tien said to Krillin, "He's not the boss of this outfit. If he wants to kill me afterwards he's welcome to try."

"Yeah, but…," Krillin tried to protest, then he slumped and looked down, "Okay."

"Come," Tien said as he turned around to go back towards the part of the cave that held the inert androids. "Let's do…."

Tien came to a full stop as he nearly walked into somebody. Somebody dressed in jeans, a black shirt and a red scarf around his neck.

"Going somewhere?" a smiling Android #17 said amiably.

"Aaah!" was all a totally flabbergasted Tien could utter as Android #17 was joined by Android #18.

Within seconds everything inside Gero's cave came to a halt as everybody began to realize that the androids, the real ones, the ones Trunks had warned them about, had awakened. The spellbound silence was finally broken as a smirking Gero spoke up.

"The wheel turns, doesn't it, Piccolo?"

x

* * *

x

When Piccolo had pinned him against the wall of his own cave the Namek thought that Gero was now relatively helpless to further impede any events. Taking care to hold the one hand that still had an energy receptor in such a way that it was harmless, Gero was now unable to steal the energy necessary to break free.

Nor could he do much else to break free with the Namek's watchful gaze upon him.

But sometimes you didn't have to break free to influence events.

Sometimes all you needed was remote access to the right kind of equipment.

Gero had never installed any wireless technology in his 'bat cave'. He had always distrusted such technology fearing it might give away his position. The distrust had been so strong that he didn't even install transmitters in his androids, preferring they report back to him in person.

His distrust now came back to haunt him as he was now unable to activate androids #17 and #18 remotely, something he might have been able to do had he installed a wireless network in his 'bat cave'.

All in all you could say he was totally boned!

Fortunately for him though the absence of a wireless network meant that he had to connect everything up with network cables. Miles and miles of it.

And as luck had it a tube full of electrical and network cables ran right below his ass, against his upper legs.

Normally he wouldn't be in a position to do much with a shielded conduit but as luck had it the blonde bitch had lobbed off his right hand, exposing all sorts of wiring. And another piece of god damn luck was that the two Saiyans were causing the mother of all distractions right in front of everybody.

So with Piccolo distracted Gero placed his stump on the conduit and sent as much energy into it, burning through the cover and letting his wiring create a circuit with the network cables inside.

It took every ounce of concentration and computation from his part but Gero finally managed to interface with his computers. Remotely turning them on to get where what he wanted. Most notably the one that controlled the android coffins in the android storage room.

 _#17, #18, can you hear me?_

It took like 100 milliseconds before Gero received the remote reply. An eternity in computing time.

 _Yes, Doctor Gero. A good day to you._

Awake and a polite greeting. This was looking hopeful.

 _You are very polite_ , Gero asked.

 _Of course, doctor, you gave us life,_ came back the reply.

Very hopeful indeed!

Truth be told he still had his doubts with #17 and #18. After all, the last time they had been active they had rebelled against him and killed poor #11. And while he had determined the most likely cause of their rebellion, there had been so preciously little time to properly examine and fix their problems in the race to finish both himself and #19 before Al-Qa'ida would begin its offensive. He just had to hope that whatever modifications he had still been able to perform on the duo would work out.

Or at the very least hold out long enough for them to obey his orders to slay Son Goku and his friends. After that, to paraphrase a certain French king, après moi les deluges.

 _#18, are you active as well?_

 _Yes, Doctor Gero, a good day to you too._

Upon receiving her reply Gero had to constrain himself not to shout out in triumph. Instead he began to formulate a careful set of orders.

 _Listen up. The lab has been overrun by Goku's allies. Some of them have begun to fight amongst themselves. They still think the both of you are inactive but once that fight is over, they will come and destroy the both of you. I am being held by Goku's ally Piccolo. And I want the both of you to come and rescue me, then defeat Goku's allies. There are two Saiyans here, one of which is Vegeta. They are both capable of transforming into a powerful state called Super Saiyan. Be very careful because in that state Vegeta was able to easily defeat #19. The other Saiyan is probably even more dangerous as he has his own group of allies and claims to have been hunting us for years. He is the cause why #13, #14 and #15 never returned._

For 500 milliseconds there came back no reply.

 _Did you build another android, Doctor Gero?_

 _Yes, #17. And I transferred myself as well. My body was failing ever more so instead I sought the immortality that artificial life can give._

 _Then why did you lose, Doctor Gero? Surely with the kind of power we have you_ _could easily defeat Goku and his allies._

#17's question stunned Gero. What was even a greater shock was when he felt something surge through his arm into his consciousness. It only lasted for a few milliseconds, then it was gone.

 _Interesting,_ the voice of #18 said, _he used a different kind of energy design both for himself and #19. A more limited eternal energy reactor coupled with energy absorption._

 _It doesn't matter what I did, Gero said impatiently, come here and rescue me!_

Again there was a 500 millisecond pause.

 _As you wish, doctor,_ both androids replied obediently.

x

* * *

x

"Going somewhere?" a smiling Android #17 said as Tien almost bumped into him.

"Aaah!" was all a totally flabbergasted Tien could utter as Android #17 was joined by Android #18.

Within seconds everything inside Gero's cave came to a halt as everybody began to realize that the androids, the real ones, the ones Trunks had warned them about, had awakened. The spellbound silence was finally broken as a smirking Gero spoke up.

"The wheel turns, doesn't it, Piccolo?" Gero said triumphantly, "#17, #18, rescue me!"

The two androids looked at each other, then they both smiled. #17 raised an arm and shot out an energy beam.

But the beam wasn't aimed at Piccolo. Nor at any of the other Z-fighters or Scoobies.

Instead it hit the controller that was on a table and was instantly incinerated.

"What the hell, #17?" Gero yelled in shock, "Stop this fooling around and kill them!"

Calmly #17 turned his head towards Gero and smirked.

"We won't let you put us to sleep again, old man," he said contemptuously, then he and #18 turned around and walked back the way they had come from, leaving the others behind in confusion.

"That was anti-climatic," Spike said, the first to break the silence.

"We have to stop them!" Trunks called out, sounding increasingly desperate now.

"Why?" Xander asked, "There's only one exit and we're in it."

Next thing Trunks turned to Xander.

"You don't know what they are capable off," Trunks hissed slowly, "I do!"

"Oh, then in that case, we're boned," Xander said back, then he leaned over, "Is it okay for me to panic now?"

Taken aback by Xander's odd behavior Trunks took an involuntarily step backwards.

"You're weirder then I remember," he finally said.

"Yeah, girls always tell me that too," Xander nodded goofily, "right before they run away."

Trunks looked like he wanted to say something, then he changed his mind.

"Somebody needs a chill pill," Xander heard as Buffy singsonged in his ear.

"Lay off him," Mayan said as she stepped between them and Trunks, "You don't know anything about us. You don't know anything about where we come from. You wanna know why these things should be destroyed? Because they killed all of you within the first day, this idiot when I was six and sister dearest here..."

"Let it go, Mayan," Trunks suddenly said as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "It's not their fault they haven't lived through it. They're just being who they are."

"Yeah but…," Mayan tried to protest but Trunks shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "We failed in stopping them. We must now concentrate on finding a way to fight them. We must go back and wait for Goku to get better."

"We shall do no such cowardly thing!" Vegeta yelled, "We shall meet them in open combat."

"Give it a rest!" Piccolo groaned, then he looked at Gero, "So what are they up to? You might as well speak since they clearly have no intention to do anything you want them to do any way. What is in there that they could use against us?"

"I'll never tell!" Gero spat back.

"There's another android in there," Willow said before Piccolo could react to Gero's defiance.

"WHAT?"

"She's right," Tien added, "there's another coffin in there and something's inside.

"Explain!" Piccolo said as he increased the pressure on Gero's throat, "How many more of your androids are there?"

"None," Gero tried to say as Piccolo squeezed the life out of him, "It's just #16. He's a failed expe….., oh my god, you have to let me go. They're going to activate #16."

"And why should I let your traitorous carcass go?" Piccolo asked wearily.

"Because #16 will be the death of us all," Gero wheezed, barely able to speak.

Piccolo's eyes narrowed briefly as he looked Gero in the face, then to everyone's shock he let go of Dr. Gero.

But not before ripping off his other hand.

"Go! And only because I'm sick and tired of holding you like this," the mighty Namek said gruffly as he threw Gero's crumpled hand to the floor, "And because now you're pretty much harmless."

No sooner had he said so as Gero ran past him to the android storage room.

"Are you crazy?" Trunks said dumbfounded as the android/mad scientist disappeared, "Goku would never…."

"Hush," Piccolo said as he silenced Trunks, "Even Goku needs information to make up his mind. We need information. Let's go find out what they're after and what the deal with this new android is."

"Wise words," Belmovekk echoed, "Let us find out what is going on."

The Saiyan de-transformed and wanted to go after Gero when Vegeta stopped him.

"This is not over between us, Movekk," the Saiyan prince said as he de-transformed as well, "There will be consequences when this is over."

"I never expected it to be otherwise, my prince," Belmovekk said as he gave Vegeta a slow bow, then they both walked to the android storage room.

"This is madness," Trunks said as more and more of the Z-fighters and Scoobies went after them, "We should be making our escape instead!"

"Then maybe its contagious, love," Mayan said nodding after the others, "I think they're right. This is not our past. To many things are different. There are now three androids we know nothing about. Maybe its time to stop chasing your mother's hopes and learn what's really going on."

Trunks wanted to protest but decided not to.

"I hate it when you're right," he muttered softly as he and Mayan went after the others.

Inside the storage room Gero was pleading with his two androids as they gathered around the third coffin. The two androids had taken the coffin from its wall mounted bracket and placed it on the floor. #18 was leaning over it when the now handless Gero had stormed in.

"Step away from him!" Gero shouted agitated.

The two androids looked up towards their creator, then at the two handless arms.

"You and what army, old man?" #17 said derisively.

"Listen to me!" Gero yelled, "I am your creator! I demand that you listen to me and fight the others!"

"Shut your yappin', old man," #17 shrugged, "We'll fight them when we want to."

"You can't be serious?" Gero said aghast, to which #17 shrugged again. Meanwhile #18 continued to examine #16's coffin.

"He looks like an eternal reactor type like us," she said curious, "Yet at the same time he looks like a different model then us. Pretty big too. I wonder in what way he's different."

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM, #18!" Gero yelled but the two androids ignored him.

"He looks interesting," #17 said to #18, "Maybe we should boot him up, see what happens?"

"DON'T DO IT!" Gero yelled again, "Do you want to destroy the entire world? #16's a failed experiment. Whatever you do, don't activate him!"

The two androids glanced at Gero.

"If he was such a failure, then why did you keep him around?" #18 asked.

Gero looked upwards for a moment in frustrated rage.

"For the same reason I kept you two around," he finally said, "Just in case I could fix him. Now step away from his chamber. If you activate him he might kill us all."

Meanwhile the combined Z-fighters and Scoobies were watching the debate.

"You know," Krillin suddenly spoke up, "It just occurred to me, maybe Trunks is right. They're so busy arguing, this could be the perfect moment for us to get away."

"Maybe you should," Vegeta sniggered, "They're probably too strong for any of you to fight."

"While I agree in principle with the noseless one," Xander said in the back towards Buffy, "I find myself freakishly drawn to seeing what happens next. It's like watching a bad movie. Or some trashy reality show. The kind where you're seeing white trash bounty hunters and lots of bad haircuts."

Meanwhile Gero's discussion with the androids went on.

"You think he can kill us?" #17 said incredulously, "That he's stronger then us? An android with a lower designation? I don't believe it. #18, activate him!"

"You're disobeying my commands?!" Gero said astounded, "You're just the same as #16, you're all failures! FAILURES! I'll stop you myself if I have to!"

"With what, old man?" #17 said derisively, "Maybe you should ask them to lend you a hand. You look like you could need one. Or two."

"I'll show you a hand!" Gero shouted, then he tried to make a round house kick towards #18, whose hand was hovering above #16's coffin controls.

But before he could begin to jump #17 lashed out and punched right through Gero's back, his fist coming right through his chest.

Incredulously Gero stared at the fist protruding from his chest.

"Damn you," Gero said as he looked over his shoulder, "what are you…."

Grinning maliciously, #17 withdrew his fist from Gero, then he jumped up and made a spinning kick that hit Gero's head so hard it tore off completely from his neck. As the body remained standing for a few more seconds Gero's head rolled across the floor and came to a stop in front of Krillin.

To everyone's surprise it was still alive, or maybe active was the better word, as it continued to move its eyes and speak.

"Damn you, #17," it croaked as its voice controls were damaged, "You're trash!"

Even as Gero's head hadn't stopped wobbling #17 took a leap and sailed through the air, with one leg stretched out in front, making a perfect landing, like a ballerina of pure evil, on top of Gero's head.

SPLUT!

Gero's head split open like a melon, showering the onlookers with pieces of artificial skin, electronics and brain matter.

As Gero's head had been closest to Krillin the android as he looked up, looked straight into Krillin's face and smiled. Standing up the android leaned over towards Krillin and all that was missing was that he would say 'Boo'. Instead he just winked, turned around and walked back to the other android and #16's coffin.

"What are they?" Krillin said horrified, "They killed their own master."

"That is not so unusual," Vegeta shrugged, "You should always kill those who you do not like. We Saiyans are like that. My father became king when he defeated my grandfather in battle."

"But not always to the death, in fact more often then not only an acknowledgment of defeat was acceptable," Belmovekk interjected then he gave a mock bow to an indignant Vegeta, "Sorry, my prince."

"The old ways used to be much better," Vegeta snorted displeased.

Meanwhile #17 had joined #18's side.

"Activate the controls," he said matter of fact to his fellow android.

"Uh, am I still alone in thinking that now's a good time to….," Krillin started to say when suddenly Trunks transformed into Super Saiyan state and rapidly charged an energy attack.

"Two's enough," he grunted in anger, "NO MORE ANDROIDS!"

Then he shot the mother of all attacks at the two androids.

As everybody dove for cover Buffy heard Krillin yell one thing before everything turned to white.

"YOU IDIOT!"

x

* * *

x

DOOM!

In the Al-Qa'ida compound everybody stopped packing crates and loading vehicles as a loud bang could be heard, followed by a strong gust of wind that blasted the compound.

Then when it all was over, in the distance, from the direction where the bang and wind had come from, a massive mushroom cloud of dust rose into the air.

"The Americans!" someone began to yell in fear, "The Americans have come!"

That person immediately received the butt of an AK-47 in the face. On the orders of Al Zawahiri of course.

"Keep loading!" he said to one of his lieutenants, "Shoot someone if you have to but keep loading those vehicles."

"It shall be done," the lieutenant said, "Inshallah!"

"And don't give me that Inshallah crap," Al Zawahiri said as he thumbed the lieutenant's chest, "We may be soldiers of Allah, but around here the only will you have to reckon with is me. And I want it! Get these vehicles loaded within the next hours or it will be you who gets shot."

The lieutenant swallowed, then he turned around and began to bark orders. More rifle butts were thrown into people's faces and order was being restored.

Pleased that his orders were being carried out Al-Zawahiri turned around and made for the main building.

"Who did that?" Al-Zawahiri's adjutant said nervously as he followed him, "Could it be the Americans? It looked like an atomic bomb."

"Don't be a fool," Al-Zawahiri snorted, "if the Americans were going to attack us with atomic bombs they would not drop them in the mountains. We would not even be having this conversation."

"Then who did that?" the adjutant asked, after which Al-Zawahiri stopped for a moment.

"I don't know," he said as he looked into the direction of the mushroom cloud, "It seems to be coming from Gero's place. Maybe one of his experiments failed. We should sent out a patrol to investigate. Make it so."

"It shall be done," the adjutant said, after which he walked away and Al-Zawahiri resumed walking towards the main building which still had that fool of a Bin Laden inside. The idiot actually believed that Allah would shield him from American retribution. At least this mysterious explosion would serve to sober him up.

And rightly so. Because whatever the hell the mystery explosion was, it was sure going to attract unwanted American attention.

x

x

* * *

As she regained consciousness Buffy reached for her head and began to curse inwardly. It would seem that any son of Vegeta was still his father's son, no matter the time or the dimension. And intelligence didn't seem to be part of the Vegeta family gene.

Somebody began to pull on her shoulder and she opened her eyes, staring right into Willow's concerned face. Willow spoke, but Buffy couldn't hear anything but a loud ringing tone.

"….y, ….r….?" Willow's mouth voiced in vain as Buffy couldn't hear anything but the odd tone. Whatever it was Willow seemed pretty much powerfreaked.

Next thing she could make out Belmo as he appeared next to Willow and seemed to say something in her ear. Willow then talked back as they began an argument which ended as Belmo seemingly laid down the law. Then Willow nodded and she reached for her pouch with the now familiar healing powder.

After she had sprinkled Buffy with her powder and spoken her message the loud ringing in her ears stopped and she could hear again.

"Thanks, Will, but no need to waste your dust just so I can hear again. The ringing always goes away, remember?"

"Not this time, young lady," Belmo said shaking his head, "Not when you look like this."

Belmo held up his hand and an image appeared floating above it of Buffy. She was covered in dust and blood, with more blood dripping from her ears and a large gash on her back. Most troubling was that her right leg was looking way bent out of shape.

"Oops," she said as Belmo made the image disappear, "I was almost rollergirl there. But I feel much better now."

Just to be sure she tried to wiggle the toes in her right foot and found them to be quite in working order.

"No thanks to him," Belmo said as he looked up and anger crept into his voice. Buffy looked up as well and saw Trunks hanging in the air, his eyes scouring the landside. The Saiyan from the future had blown up half of the mountain in an attempt to stop the androids. And it was clear that for all intents and purposes Belmo blamed him for what had happened to her.

Seeing that Belmo had murder in his eyes Buffy tried to stop him.

"Don't you dare do anything stupid," she said to him but she was already too late as Belmo rose in the air and launched himself at the future Saiyan.

x

* * *

x

Trunks was trying to find any signs of the androids, to see if he had caused them damage or serious injury. He had given them his best but he didn't really believe he had killed them. But at the very least he might have caused them some damage in some form.

Because he was so focused on finding android remains on the ground he failed to take notice that one irate Saiyan rose up from the ground to meet him. Thus it was that he only noticed that somebody was in front of him when it was too late.

"Belmove….?" Trunks tried to say before the Saiyan reached out and smacked him hard in the face.

SMACK!

"TRUNKS, YOU IDIOT!" Belmovekk thundered as young Saiyan reached for his face, "NEVER DO SOMETHING THAT STUPID AGAIN!"

Next thing the elder Saiyan grabbed Trunks by his leather jacked and pulled him up close.

"If you endanger my daughters _ever_ again, this I swear in Aldur's name, I will end your miserable existence!"

Not sure what to say and taken aback by Belmovekk's anger Trunks didn't say anything. Nor did he have too as something flashed by and an elbow came to a sudden stop in Belmovekk's face.

It was done with so much force that Belmovekk had to let go of Trunks and was sent crashing into the ground below.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Mayan screamed angry after she had sent the older Saiyan plowing into the ground. Not for long though as Belmovekk rose up again to meet her.

"Stand aside," he slowly hissed as Mayan kept herself between Belmovekk and Trunks, "As your father I order to stand aside."

"My father?" Mayan snorted incredulously, "My father died 15 years ago. Other then what Aunt Willow told me he means nothing to me. You're not even him, just some guy from some alternate dimension who happens to look like him."

If her words wounded the older Saiyan he didn't show it. Nor did he get the chance as Buffy rose up and placed herself between him and Mayan.

"Can we do this another time?" Buffy said glancing from Belmovekk to her alternate reality sister, then she pointed at Belmovekk first, then at her alternate reality sister, "You, take a chill pill, what's done is done. And you, keep your boyfriend in check. There's only room for one Vegeta in this outfit."

Neither Belmovekk nor Mayan said anything as both scowled two very identical angry scowls at each other. Then Buffy took Belmovekk by the shoulder.

"Come, admiral," she said, "let's inspect the troops."

Glancing one last deathglare at Trunks Belmovekk allowed himself to be led away.

"What's his problem?" Trunks asked, causing Mayan to facepalm herself.

"You idiot!" she said exasperated, "I may not know much about my father but I do know this, he is _nothing_ like your father. He actually cared about us. The moment you endangered us all you endangered _her_ and you endangered me. When you do stuff like that he no longer thinks straight."

"I..., um, uh..., am sorry?" Trunks said as he scratched the back of his head.

"What were you thinking?" Mayan said scolding, "Where you even thinking? Cause she is right you know, there is only room for one Vegeta here. Don't be the Vegeta!"

"I..., um, it's just that..., uh," Trunks stammered, then he threw his hands into the air, "What was I supposed to do? For 15 years just seeing their faces meant death. They killed everybody I ever loved, that we loved. Seeing their faces and activating that other android something snapped in me."

Mayan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's not that I don't understand," she said with eyes still closed, "I know the feeling all to well. But we need these people. If they start disliking us because you're acting like an ass we won't be able to do much of anything."

Trunks wanted to say something when he heard another voice.

"You should listen to her," Vegeta's voice sneered, upon which Trunks looked up and saw his father float above them, "She seems to be the brains of your outfit."

"Leave him alone," Mayan said angry but Vegeta ignored her.

"If you had harmed those androids in any way I would have killed you," the Saiyan prince said matter of fact, then he smirked again, "Lucky for you, you can't seem to aim for shit."

Vegeta then nodded to a mountain peak on the other side of the valley they were floating above. On it the two androids could be seen, carrying a large android coffin. Next thing the blonde android holding the coffin threw it on the ground, then she finally pressed the controls.

As more and more of the Z-fighters and Scoobies rose in the air to see what was happening next Vegeta shook his head disapprovingly at Trunks one last time.

"All that energy gone to waste," he sighed.

On the other mountain top #18 had activated the controls and then kicked off the coffin's lid. Then, as everybody held their breath, something arose from the coffin.

Something tall.

Something extremely tall

As he emerged from his coffin, Android #16 dwarfed his fellow androids. Dressed in black spandex, a large metallic green chest piece finished off with a red haired Mohawk, #16 looked around.

As she saw #16 emerge from his coffin Mayan took Trunks' hand into hers and squeezed gently. Just in time as she felt him tense up. Knowing exactly with what she was dealing she leaned over to his ear.

"This is not your fault," she whispered, "whatever you do or think, remember that."

Meanwhile on the mountain top the two androids engaged their latest android companion.

"Try moving about, #16," #17 said encouragingly, "How does it feel to be outside in years?"

#16 didn't reply, he just stared ahead into the distance. Not taken aback #17 continued his line of inquiry.

"It looked like Dr. Gero didn't want us to activate you. He said you would destroy us."

"I want to know what he meant," #18 added, "Do you have any idea?"

Again #16 didn't reply, instead he just gave a slight smile.

"Don't you want to tell us?" #18 asked.

"Or are you a mute?" #17 asked a little contemptuously. So far #16 was proving to be…., disappointing?

The two androids looked at each other, then they shrugged.

"Whatever," #17 said, then he looked at #16, "Do you want to go? Where you made to destroy Son Goku?"

Naming Gero's hated enemy brought forth the first real reaction from the massive #16.

"Yes," he said as he looked at #17.

"My, so you can speak after all," #17 said smug with himself, then he looked at #18, "Let's help him fulfill his programming?"

#18 looked at her fellow android with a puzzled look.

"Why would we even want to?" she asked, "We're finally free."

"We will never be really free until we've fulfilled our purpose," #17 said insightful, "It will always hang over us. While it sickens me to my stomach to carry out Gero's orders we have to do so in order to be really free. Plus we're androids, we need a purpose."

"Even if it's Gero's?" #18 said, her voice showing signs of revulsion, "And what if we complete our mission? What is our purpose then?"

"Let's cross that bridge when we reach it," #17 shrugged.

Not knowing anything better, #18 said nothing. After which the three of them slowly lifted themselves up in the sky and took off.

As the androids just took off, they left the Z-fighters and Scoobies behind utterly dumbfounded.

"They…., they… just left?" Krillin said relieved, "Thank goodness!"

"This is…., odd," Xander said, "Am I the only one here who feels power-freaked?"

"No," Buffy said shaking her head, "This has maxi-wig written all over it, in tiny freaky letters."

"They are up to something," Belmovekk said looking at Piccolo, "but what?"

"Judging by the direction they're taking they don't seem to be going towards any of the major cities," Piccolo mused, "Not for a long while at least."

"Travel in a straight direction and eventually you are bound to come up to something," Belmovekk said, then he cupped his chin and looked upward, "There has to be something in that direction that….."

Then the both of them looked at each other and spoke in unison.

"GOKU!"

"They're after Goku still?" Tien said flabbergasted, "They just killed their own creator? Why would they even bother still fulfilling their original mission?"

"Who cares!" Vegeta said, his lips trembling with anger, then he looked up into the sky, "I was right here! They ignored me! They're trying to say that I am not worthy of their attention. That pisses me off!"

With a yell Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan.

"They shall know my wrath," Vegeta growled and took off. He was about to pursue the androids when Trunks suddenly put himself in his way.

"DON'T!" he yelled vehemently, "For the love of God, father, don't go after them!"

"Why not?" Vegeta snorted, "Should we wait instead until Kakarot gets better again?"

"Kakarot?" Trunks said surprised, then it dawned on him, "Oh, you mean Goku? Yes, we should wait for him. This concerns him as well. Mother was quite specific that only Goku…."

"You really don't understand, do you?" Vegeta said scornfully, "You think that just because your mother thought the sun shone from Kakarot's ass using his name means something to me? I hate Kakarot even more then I do those androids. I'd rather die trying to stop them then wait a single second for his help again."

Taken aback by the vitriol in his father's voice Trunks was left speechless.

"And after I've taken care of those androids I will take care of Kakarot," Vegeta said, then he gestured for Trunks to move aside, "Now, get out of my way!"

"You can't defeat them," Trunks said sounding almost desperate, "If you do you'll die!"

Vegeta didn't bother to reply. Instead he just moved lightning fast and suckerpunched Trunks right in the gut. As the young Saiyan winced with pain he dropped several feet from the air.

"TRUNKS!" Mayan yelled as she sped to Trunks' side to take care of her loved one.

"Parental issues much?" Xander said somewhat pitiful to Buffy and Willow, "Suddenly I'm not so sure anymore that my parents are that worse."

x

* * *

x

Having flown a relatively short distance the androids touched down on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.

"Why did we land, #17?" #18 asked curious as she looked around the barren country side.

"Why rush things?" #17 smiled like he had not a care in the world, "We have plenty of time, why not see a little of the world while we make it to Goku's place?"

"So you're going to walk us there?" #18 said incredulously.

"We're on a road," #17 replied looking down one end of the road, "Why not get a car and drive there?"

#18 looked around the empty waste lands.

"You're kidding, right?" she said, "There's not a living soul in a hundred miles radius. Only the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida use this road."

"We're in no rush," #17 smiled carelessly.

"Men!" #18 snorted contemptuously, "You're obviously malfunctioning. There's too much human left in you."

Then #18 turned to the big guy.

"You understand, don't you, #16?" she said.

"I do not," #16 said shaking his head, "I was not made from a human base. I was made from nothing."

"Nothing," #18 said surprised, "Then I guess there are some differences between us. Other then the silent guy routine."

As the two androids contemplated #16's revelation something touched down behind them.

"Hello," Vegeta sneered as a halo of golden chi surrounded him, "How nice of you to waste your time for me."

The three androids looked at Vegeta, not showing much signs of emotion.

"Something's different," #17 said calmly, "You look different?"

"It must be this Super Saiyan thing Gero told us about," #18 added, "He changed his hair."

"It's so much more then that," Vegeta smirked confidently, "As you'll find out. So what are you up to?"

"Nothing special," #17 smiled amiably as he folded his arms across his chest.

"We're going to kill Son Goku," #18 said matter of fact.

"I thought so," Vegeta said, also folding his arms across his chest, "I don't think you will though. I will see to that."

If Vegeta was hoping for a reaction he didn't get any as both small androids just smiled back amiably.

"You think that I was joking?" Vegeta said as his smirk began to fade, "Laugh now while you still can."

"Saiyans must be overconfident," #17 said to #18, "Son Goku must be too."

To which #18 nodded in agreement.

Seeing that he was being ignored Vegeta unfolded his arms and raised a fist.

"You piss me off, even though you're no much better then couple of windup dolls," he said angry, "Now, face me! Which one of you wants to die first? The boy? The girl? The big one? Or all at once?"

"What a fool," #18 said shaking her head, then she looked at #16, "Why don't you fight him? Show us your strength."

To everyone's surprise #16 shook his head.

"I refuse," he said calmly. Upon which #17 and #18 looked at each other somewhat bewildered.

"Smart guy," Vegeta said as he began to smirk again, "It looks like he at least knows how strong I am."

"Odd fellow," #17 said still looking at #16.

"Then I'll do it," #18 said as she stepped forward to meet Vegeta. Then both fighters assumed a fighting stance.

"Just so you know, I won't hold back because you're a girl," Vegeta smirked, "But then again, you're not a girl, just a wind up doll."

#18 didn't reply. Instead she let her fists speak for her as she attacked, launching herself at Vegeta. But Vegeta blocked her attack, and the next. Then the fight began in earnest as both fighters attacked and counter attacked each other.

All the while as #17 looked on impressed. #16 on the other hand seemed less impressed as he hunched down beside the road to watch something else.

Meanwhile #18 finally managed to get in an elbow to Vegeta's face, but the Saiyan was able to use that to take hold of her and slammed her into the ground, then he threw himself on top of her and tried to pummel her with his fists combined. The impact of which caused the ground to crack up but missed her by an instant as she launched herself into the air.

Not missing a beat Vegeta went after her. She managed to block his kick but the accompanying punch managed to come to a hard stop on her face. As she was sent backwards by the impact, #17 was impressed.

"I'm impressed," he said to #16, "He's indeed so much more stronger in that state, just like Gero said he would. I hate to say it but Vegeta's pretty good."

#16 didn't bother to reply as he reached out a finger towards a small scorpion.

Meanwhile Vegeta and #18 landed on the road again, right next to a large cluster of rocks. Despite have received a few beatings by Vegeta #18 seemed no less worse for wear as she straightened her shoulder length blonde hair.

"Heh, heh," Vegeta panted as he took stock of the situation, "Not bad, wind up doll. You take a beating pretty good. Now let's try something else."

Vegeta held up his right hand, hand palm at a 90 degrees angle aimed straight at #18.

"Since you seem to be well built, I'm gonna try and blow you to bits instead," Vegeta continued as he began to gather in his energy, "Wipe that smile of your face."

As a shiny orb of glowing death began to form in front of Vegeta's hand a group of cars suddenly came around the rock formation following the dirt road.

x

* * *

x

With its six ubiquitous Japanese pickup trucks fully loaded with armed warriors the Al-Qa'ida strike force sent out to investigate the mysterious explosion and Dr. Gero's fate came to a grinding halt as the lead vehicle came to a sudden stop. Under more normal conditions an obstructed road wouldn't be a problem as the pickups were perfectly off road capable. That was why they were so popular in this country to begin with.

Of course Afghanistan wasn't a normal country. After more then two decades of continuous warfare the countryside was literally riddled with landmines so the roads were absolutely critical in getting from A to B in one piece. It was also along these roads where most of the fighting took place.

So when the lead vehicle came to a grinding halt the strike force commander didn't hesitate to dismount his men and exit the vehicle. Brandishing his AK-47 Mohammed Ibn Massud ran past the other vehicles to the lead vehicle. Where instead of finding a roadblock by some rebellious local warlord, the Northern Alliance, or Allah forbid the Americans, he found a single girl.

A single girl not dressed as a woman should be.

A single girl with blonde hair.

A single girl who was obviously a westerner.

Before it dawned on Ibn Massud and his men why a blonde western girl was in this area something big, yellow and incredibly shiny came their way.

And just before he was vaporized it also dawned upon Ibn Massud that maybe the Americans weren't his biggest problem after all.

x

* * *

x

"It looks like you're faster then I thought," Vegeta said after the smoke of his explosion had cleared.

"You weren't serious with that attack," #18 said casually, standing not that far behind the Saiyan, having just dodged a major attack.

"Of course not," Vegeta said as he slowly turned around to face #18, "If I were I'd blow up the planet."

"It must kill you to have that kind of power and not be able to use it," #18 said.

"It can be a pain," Vegeta agreed, "It has its compensations though."

"I suppose your immense penis gives you great comfort," #18 shrugged, "But guess what, I wasn't serious either."

"Women!" Vegeta snorted out loud, "Always playing games. Look, wind up doll. If you're not serious now, you'll regret it."

"Alright," #18 smiled, then she launched herself at Vegeta at lightning speed and delivered the mother of all head butts.

x

* * *

x

Not that they really needed one, but when the sky lit up with the flash of a huge explosion the Z-fighters/Scoobies knew where to look for their missing Saiyan prince. After that it was clear sailing as the group touched down behind androids #17 and #16.

"Fa…., Vegeta, are you alright?" Trunks asked worried as Vegeta slowly crawled bloodied and bruised from a hole in the rock formation. The Saiyan prince took one look at his future son and the others and began to scowl again.

"You stupid bastards," Vegeta said as he began to smirk again, "Do you think any of you stands a chance against these androids?"

"His ego still seems to be okay," Xander said, causing Tien to let out a small chortle.

"That's all he really needs anyway," Tien joked back.

Meanwhile #17 observed the newcomers. While he didn't think man for man they would pose a problem, all of them together might overwhelm #18. Something had to be done to keep that from happening.

"Maybe I should fight as well," he mused out loud, then he looked over his shoulder at #16, "Or do you want to fight them, #16."

"I won't fight them," #16 said as he shook his head.

"Again you won't," #17 said, more curious then surprised or angry, "If you won't fight anyone, why were you made at all?"

"To kill Son Goku," #16 said straight faced. And then it clicked within #17. That's why Gero considered him a failure. #16 was Goku's assassin. And for some strange reason nothing else. A case of being too literal to his orders. Since he couldn't get him to do anything else Gero considered him useless. It still didn't explain why he had so vehemently opposed them trying to revive #16 though. Maybe Gero in his attempts to get the android to do his bidding had crossed a line he shouldn't have and like with their early rebellion had paid a price for it?

"You do what you have to do," #17 shrugged, more determined then ever to unravel the mystery that was Android #16 at some date, then he walked towards the newcomers.

"Hey, #17's coming this way," Tien said alarmed. Seeing that the other android, the one who had beaten him up so often, was coming their way Trunks made one last effort to appeal to his father.

"Vegeta, run away," he yelled, "What good's your pride when your dead?"

"Go away boy," Vegeta said dismissively, "Or do you want me to kick your ass again?"

"Maybe you should do as he says," #18 said in that infuriating calm voice of hers, "We have no interest in cowards."

"Don't make me laugh," Vegeta replied, "Why run if I will kill the both of you? To tell you the truth I'd rather die then rely on the help of Earthlings, Nameks, vampires, half-breeds, and above all Kakarot!"

Hearing his father sneer at him again Trunks felt Mayan putting her hand on his shoulder again. He knew his father was no saint, but love must have truly made mother blind for her to fall in love with this, this… asshole.

Clap, clap, clap.

Clapping his hands slowly, #17 arrived at the group.

"What a beautiful speech," #17 said condescendingly, "You have shown great skill. You are truly a Saiyan prince of princes."

"Don't mock me, automaton," Vegeta said slowly as his eyes narrowed, "Especially you, brat. I've killed people for less."

"I'm sure you did, you truly embody the spirit of Bushido" #17 as he gave Vegeta a mock bow, then he faced the others, "But just in case your friends don't, the moment any of you make a move, so will I."

As the group members looked at each other in bewilderment, Vegeta spoke up.

"They're cowards," he said contemptuously, then he spit some blood to the ground, "Always hiding behind Kakarot as he took care of the dirty work. You didn't need to warn them off."

"Ready to continue then?" #18 asked with a slight smile.

"Bring it on," Vegeta said confidently.

x

* * *

x

To his credit Vegeta did manage to bring it on.

For a while he managed to hold up his own and even pummel the female android into the ground. But as she emerged from the latest crater, her hair a mess and her clothes shredded, she was still essentially unharmed.

"You really piss me off, bitch," Vegeta panted heavily as he landed in front of her, "All calm like that. That's the problem with you wind up dolls. No emotion."

"I have to say I'm impressed," #18 said calmly as she took off her torn jacked, "Even though you're an alien I didn't think anybody could be as strong as you are. Is Son Goku like you?"

"Kakarot?" Vegeta said incredulously, "Don't be stupid, for a while he was but things are back to normal now. I'm the strongest now."

"So he's not as strong, huh?" #18 said, glancing briefly at #17, then she looked at Vegeta, "Well, neither are you."

Then the fight went on.

Meanwhile the others looked on in bewilderment. Even Trunks.

Despite his recent humiliations at the hands of Vegeta, Trunks began to develop new respect for his father. The power, the skill, it was an awesome sight to behold. So much better then his sensei Gohan had been. Also, to be able to go toe to toe with an android and still hold his own. He never thought his father could have done so.

"Vegeta's going to lose," Piccolo suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"Look," Piccolo said nodding towards Vegeta, "He may hold his own but he's getting tired. She's not. Soon she will have the upper hand. Don't you think so, Belmovekk?"

There was no reply, causing Piccolo to look around.

"Belmovekk?" he said alarmed, because suddenly there was no sight of the Saiyan. Nor of the Scoobies, "Where did he go?"

"Aw, bugger," Spike said as he realized they had gone as well, "They left me behind. Again!"

"He was here a minute ago," Tien said equally surprised at their sudden disappearance.

There was no time to contemplate the sudden disappearance as the female android suddenly got the upper hand and began to pummel Vegeta mercilessly. And then it happened.

As he tried to ward off a kick to his face, #18's leg impacted with so much force against his upper left arm that it snapped with a loud crack.

CRACK

As Vegeta reached for his arm in pain something snapped inside Trunks. Flashbacks of scenes he'd rather not relive flashed before his eyes.

"FATHER!" he yelled as he took off to come Vegeta's aid, pulling out the big sword that was on his back.

"Idiot!" both Piccolo and Mayan said in annoyance, then they, Faith Spike and Tien took off after Trunks.

x

* * *

x

With the fight between Vegeta and Android #18 in full swing, Belmovekk watched on and tried to learn as much as was possible from the android's fighting style. Which seemed to be, for lack of a better word, economical?

She didn't seem interested in making flashy moves, nor in any sense of style, philosophy or beauty. It was pure business.

It was also poetry in motion in its own right.

Unfortunately for Vegeta Belmovekk was coming to the same conclusion that Piccolo would reach. Considering that she had the skill to adapt to Vegeta's style of combat, the difference of power between them being more or less equal so far and most of important of all, that infinite energy reactor of hers, unless she made a really colossal blunder there was no way in hell that she could lose.

That infinite energy reactor really made the difference, as he knew from first hand experience at fighting Spike back in the gravity gym at an equal level. It meant that getting into a battle of attrition with an android like that was certain doom.

He should really do something to help Vegeta. Even though the Saiyan prince had become an insufferable ass and wouldn't want the help. But the Saiyan prince had died once already and been revived by the Dragonballs. His second death would therefore be permanent.

But something wasn't adding up. Something was wrong with these androids.

"Maybe there is?" a voice said, heavily laden with harmonic overtones. Belmovekk glanced around quickly to see if his identical twin was lurking around but couldn't see him.

"Not now," Belmovekk muttered softly under his breath.

"Yes now," the Goa'uld's voice replied.

Suddenly Belmovekk was transported from Afghanistan to a very different place. As he looked around he found himself standing in a large Roman like arena, with the stands full of shouting and roaring people.

"ISKANDER! ISKANDER! ISKANDER!" the crowds roared as the Saiyan looked around. Then it all clicked. He was in Tol Honeth, capital of the Tolnedran Empire. The Imperial Arena to be precise. It was a long time ago, which meant that the Worm had dug really deep.

"AND IN THE GOLD CORNERRRRRRrrrrrrrr," a new voice shouted, his voice laden with harmonic overtones, somehow silencing the whole arena thanks to its excellent acoustics, "WE HAVE THE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION, ISKANDER!"

It was Amūn, still wearing his face but now in the guise of the Imperial Arena's Announcer.

"ISKANDER! ISKANDER! ISKANDER!"

Having no time to play games Belmovekk left the gold corner and walked to the centre of the Imperial Arena, where Amūn smiled as he awaited his arrival.

"Say what you have to say, worm," Belmovekk said impatiently, "I have more pressing business to attend."

"In a moment," Amūn smiled and placed his hands around his mouth to shout again.

But before he could Belmovekk grabbed one of his hands and stopped him.

"Like I said, worm," he said, placing heavy derogatory emphasis on the word worm, "I have no time for your games."

Amūn wanted to say something, then he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"No games?" the Goa'uld sighed, then he looked upwards, "Why do I even bother to help you?"

"Enlightened self-interest?" Belmovekk suggested.

"That's the one," Amūn said triumphantly, then he pulled his hand free, "Now let me do this and it'll be all over soon."

"Just do you thing," Belmovekk said frowning.

"You have no idea," Amūn said with an impish grin, then he brought his hands to his mouth and shouted, "AND IN THE SILVER CORNER WE HAVE THE CHALLENGERS: FROM THE FROZEN NORTHS OF CHEREK, SYBIL OF DANNING."

As the crowds cheered Sybil of Danning stepped forth. Only she looked nothing like the Sybil of Danning Belmovekk remembered.

"Belmo? What gives?" Buffy said as she found herself standing in some strange arena. And what made it worse was that she was wearing an outfit that was so skimpy it would make a stripper blush. Especially the large metal bra that she was wearing, with those tacky pointed studs on them.

Then, despite the weirdness of the situation, she put her hands on her bra and jiggled them.

"Oh! My! God!" Buffy exclaimed as she suddenly realized she had gone up a cup size. Several cup sizes for that matter.

"WE ALSO HAVE FROM MARAGOR, MAGRATH THE STUPENDOUS!"

"Whoah," Xander said with eyes big as saucers as he stepped beside Buffy and noticed her minimal dress code.

"Buffy," he said in awe, "You put the class in trashy. I hereby totally swear off my loyalty to spandex and swear fealty to metal. Heavy metal!"

Saying the last part Xander's voice went up into falsetto, he also threw one hand into the air to give the devil's horns salute. Meanwhile Buffy stopped touching her gazongas and gave Xander a look over, then she put her hands on her sides and began to smile.

"Have you looked yourself in the mirror lately?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Xander said as he flexed his large muscled body, "I'm looking gooooood!"

"You do know the only thing you're wearing is a man string," Buffy said as she pointed to his groin.

Xander stopped flexing his muscles, then he looked downwards and yelped. The only thing he seemed to be wearing was a very small G-string.

And one so small it begged to differ how small his 'package' now had become.

"I'm suddenly having a very uncomfortably flashback," he said as he placed a hand in front of his crotch, the other on his ass, "Ew, it's in my crack."

"I have to say, Xander," Buffy grinned, "While I like what I see, I liked the Speedo better. At least it left something to the imagination. Now it looks…., shorter?"

"Maybe I just had a cold bath?" Xander moaned.

"AND FINALLY, FROM THE MRIN MARSHES WE HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL, AETOLIA THE WITCH!"

"You guys, what's going on?" Willow said surprised as she joined Buffy and Xander. She was also wearing an outfit that accentuated her curves. And she looked absolutely, well, if she had looked like this years ago history might have gone very different.

"This is so unfair," Xander said in disgust as he threw his hands in the air.

"What?" Willow asked surprised at her friend's outburst.

"He means your hair, Will," Buffy said as she reached out and brought a lock of gorgeously long black hair into Willow's view, "I think it's cute."

"Ow," Willow said excited as she reached for some locks of her now black hair, "This is kinda neat."

"The universe hates me," Xander sulked.

"What's his problem?" Willow asked.

"He's referring to your new looks, my porno sized boobs and, um," Buffy said as she mused for a moment, "Well, let's just say that what he gained in muscles he sort of lost where it matters. For most men."

Buffy smiled as she put her hand on Xander's shoulder.

"But don't worry, it's not the size that matters, it's how you use it."

"I hate you so much right now," Xander said aggrieved.

"Hey, you guys," Willow said, "Belmo's over there. And Belmo?"

"Two Belmo's huh," Buffy said, "Suddenly this all started to make sense. Come."

"And go out there dressed like this?" Xander whimpered, "Why does that strike me as, shall we say, inappropriate?"

"Oh, for God sakes," Buffy said as she rolled her eyes, then she picked up a shield that lay next to her and gave it to Xander, "Here, now nobody has to see little Xander Jr. and they can all ogle your magnificent ass instead."

The three of them walked to the center where the two Belmo's stood. One was dressed in a short pair of leather trousers, the other wore some kind of ceremonial robe. And for some reason he struck her as the one responsible for bringing them here.

It also helped of course that his eyes were glowing.

"You, why are you still talking to him," Buffy said pointing towards Belmo, then she pointed towards glow-in-the-dark Belmo, "And you! You did this! Somehow you did this and brought us here. Which leads to the question of A: how did you bring us here and B: why are we here?"

"Why is my weewee suddenly small?" Xander asked.

"Or my hair black?" Willow added.

"Boobies?" Buffy said as she reached for her metal bra.

"You are all inside my memories," Belmo said, then he reached his arms into the air, "The Imperial Arena in Tol Honeth to be precise."

As he put his arms into the air the crowd began to chant.

"ISKANDER! ISKANDER! ISKANDER!"

"Who's this Iskander?" Willow asked.

"My guess, Maximus Decimus Meridius here," Buffy said as she eyed Belmo suspiciously, "So now you've been a gladiator as well?"

"I was under cover at the time," Belmo said defensively, "And it would seem that that little worm has dressed you up as some of my adversaries of that time."

"Then this isn't permanent?" Xander said jagged, still holding up the round shield in front of his 'nether' regions.

"Before I continue I must say that I'm excited to finally meet you all," glow-in-the-dark Belmo said excited, "So far I've only had the chance to meet Miss Summers, I never had the chance to talk to either Xander or Willow yet."

"What are you?" Xander asked.

"It's his imaginary BFF," Buffy said, "You know, the one I told you about. The Goold who wouldn't die."

"Ooooooh!" glow-in-the-dark Belmo said excited as he clapped his hands together in glee, "You remembered! I was afraid you wouldn't remember since we, well, technically he was under the weather."

"How could I forget," Buffy groaned as she put her hands in front of her eyes, "It's not every day that you find out your stepfather still has an alien inside him."

"I don't think he's an alien any more, Buff," Xander said musing, "If anything he's become the Big Guy's Harvey."

"Harvey?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, you know," Xander said as he tapped his forehead, "Like Farscape, where Crighton gets a chip in his brain and a neural clone from the bad guy. Where they talk to each other in places from Crighton's memory and hijincks ensue?"

"You really watch to much television," Buffy said shaking her head.

"It's not like I get to do much else at home," Xander shrugged. And that closed the argument because they all knew what kept the young teen at home for most of his spare hours. It wasn't even discussed any more.

"Gentlemen, and ladies," glow-in-the-dark Belmo said, redrawing attention to himself, "Far be it for me to interrupt your fascinating discourse, maybe we should get back to more important matters."

"Yeah," Buffy said as she reached out to thumb glow-in-the-dark Belmo and found, much to her surprise, that she could actually touch him, "How did you bring us here and why am I not bringing down the Big Hurt on your whatever the hell your ass actually is?"

"Fair questions indeed," glow-in-the-dark Belmo said as he rubbed the spot where Buffy had thumbed him, "Well, the first answer would be Saiyan telepathy. As you may all know by now it is capable of all sorts of nutty things. It may not be perfect but it has allowed all of you to interact with him here from time to time. It is however also capable of communication through physical touch alone. Not only was I able to reach out through his limited talent for telepathy, because at one time or another you all have connected to him I knew where to look. And of course because you all have similar latent talents yourself."

"What do you mean? Willow asked, "Are we all telepathic? Are all humans capable of such? Are we…."

"Easy, my lady," glow-in-the-dark Belmo interrupted, then he pointed to each of them, "You're a sorceress, which grants you certain unique talents, she's the Slayer which grants her certain unique talents and he, well, he's practically a long lost Saiyan half-cousin."

"Oh God," Xander moaned as he buried his face in his free hand, "Not the Saiyan connection again."

"Why are you so awkward about it?" glow-in-the-dark Belmo asked curiously, "For years you moaned not having a power and now that you do, you don't want it? You should embrace the madness, it fires your blood!"

"You stole that from Babylon 5!" Xander cried out angrily, "From Londo Mollari!"

"Londo who?" Buffy asked.

"Centauri guy," Willow filled in, "You know, the guy with the six, um, penises?"

"Ow," Buffy said, then a small smile crept on her face, "that one."

"So sue me," glow-in-the-dark Belmo said to Xander, "I'm an alien. I'm using a more contemporary frame of reference because I doubt that the ancestral wisdoms of the Goa'uld would make much of an impression on you."

"So that explains the how," Buffy interjected, "You still haven't explained why I shouldn't go medieval on your projected ass."

Glow-in-the-dark Belmo stopped looking at Xander, glanced at Buffy, then at the real Belmo.

"Ever since what remained of me got trapped inside his mind my course is now inevitably linked to his," glow-in-the-dark Belmo said as he moved over to stand next to the Saiyan, "I was once a leader of men. Jaffa, strong of arms, who would follow me into battle. As their God it was my duty to look out for them. When he defeated me it became his responsibility, and since I reside in him, it still is mine too."

"When I tried to kill Anubis I shared in his vision and learned of a terrible secret. And when I died and ended up inside him I learned of another. A terrible and dark danger will rise from this world and it will not only consume yours, it will spread out to the galaxy and beyond as well. It must be stopped at all costs. So all of our fates are now intertwined, young Slayer."

"In the past we tried to stop the coming of the Androids because we believed that while they would not the great and terrible danger, we did believe that their coming would herald the other. Things have now changed however."

"In what way?"

Glow-in-the-dark Belmo gave her a look.

"Well, for one, how about the androids being activated now?" he said, "So I propose a different course of action."

"Which is what?" Belmo asked. To which glow-in-the-dark Belmo turned around and faced the audience.

"You were sent here to fight a great danger. I propose that instead of trying to destroy those androids we use them instead to draw out that great enemy into the open and destroy it once and for all. CAN I GET A HELL YEAH?"

"HELL YEAH!" the audience in the Imperial Arena shouted en masse and glow-in-the-dark Belmo began to pump his fists into the air.

"YES!" glow-in-the-dark Belmo said energized, "The League has spoken!"

"An interesting notion," Belmo said as he cupped his chin and began to mull it over, "Drawing them out into the open has always been a problem."

"You can't seriously consider this," Buffy said shocked, "This plan has crazy written all over it. Crazy people flee from it. Bad plan, we had other plans, remember? Slaying plans. Going to college plans!"

"Uh, yeah," Xander added, "I have to agree with Buffy here, we're talking about letting three killer robots on the loose. Remember what Trunks said. They killed most of us."

"But not the world," Belmo countered as he pointed to the dirt arena below their feet, "They did not destroy this planet. In order for the new cosmic accident to happen this planet has to blow up. Since it did not happen they cannot be the cause. We therefore should use them as bait."

Seeing that Belmo was leaning to his side of the argument, glow-in-the-dark Belmo pumped his fists into the air again.

"CAN I HAVE ANOTHER HELL YEAH?"

"HELL YEAH!" the crowd shouted back.

"But they're still going to kill humans!" Buffy said incredulously, "Doesn't that even register on the Belmometer of insanity? And don't even start on acceptable losses or we can bring them back with the Dragonballs because I will slap some sense into your vacant construction zone of drool!"

"But Buffy," Willow suddenly said to everyone's surprise, "We don't know that they're going to kill us all. They didn't try to kill us at the lab. Even now they're only fighting because Vegeta challenged them."

"That's because they're on a mission to kill Goku," Xander countered, "You remember Goku, right? Nice guy? Helped us in the past when we had a bad case of Evil Mayor Trying To Become An Evil Super Villain?"

"But as long as we keep Goku from them we could manage them," Belmo suggested.

"No, no, no, no," Buffy said as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm not hearing what I'm hearing. I don't even wanna think about thinking about what I'm hearing."

"What you're proposing is dangerous, extremely dangerous," Xander said, "What if they go on a rampage trying to find Goku? You remember rampages, don't you?"

Belmo put his hands together in front of him.

"I am willing to concede that we may have to intervene to stop those androids if they were to become violent," he said calmly and rationally, "But until then I propose that we do nothing and stop the others from doing anything to stop them."

"Why are we even discussing this?" Buffy said as she threw her hands in the air, "Those androids devastated his world for almost two decades and no great and terrible something came along. Are we to sit by and do nothing for two decades? By then I'm too old for college. If there even is a college left by then."

"You guys do remember the strange prophecy Giles found in his Gypsy Prophecy," Willow said, then she began to paraphrase, "You are living in the crucible, and to this crucible they shall come from beyond the walls of time and space. Take great care that they shall not fall into their hands."

"It's gibberish, Will," Buffy said, "It can mean anything. Besides, remember the prophecy about how I was going to set the Master free and die? All I had to do to stop it was not show up and it would never have happened. I say that if some prophecy wants to keep something safe from others, then nuking it is a perfectly good way to do so."

"Hell yeah!" Xander said as he held up his free hand to Buffy for a high five, "I so hate prophecies."

Glow-in-the-dark Belmo stopped playing to the imaginary crowds and turned towards Buffy and Xander.

"Look," he said, "I brought you here so I can talk to you about a possible course of action. Or have you all forgotten why we cannot discuss this in the open? What happened to you two in Cleveland and to you at the hands of Anubis? The Great Enemy is out there, whether you like it or not. They will set things in motion against you regardless of your so-called college. The question becomes, do you want to react to their next move? Or do you want them to react to yours? I'll say this though, no war has ever been won by letting the other side dictate events."

Buffy and Xander looked at each other. Seeing that he had managed to plant the seed of doubt in their minds glow-in-the-dark Belmo turned around and faced the audience again.

"CAN I HAVE A HELL YEAH?"

x

* * *

x

Krillin looked on his absolute horror as the two androids dealt summarily with his friends as they came to Vegeta's rescue. Tien, Spike and Faith were dealt with easily. Piccolo got the mother of all sucker punches. It was only the two teens from the future who put up any kind of resistance. Then again, they had most the experience dealing with these androids.

Trunks battered the female android with his sword, the same one that had sliced Freeza into little bits. Freeza! Tyrant of the universe! Who at one time had killed Krillin and who still had him waking up and screaming at night from time to time. Sliced and diced like a fresh fish in a sushi bar. And yet that same blade nearly shattered when it hit the android's arm.

Of course no blade could really hurt a trained chi fighter. Nor could bullets. If Trunks' blade sliced Freeza into chop suey it was because Trunks had infused it with his chi and made it into an extension of himself.

Which of course meant that Trunks, a Super Saiyan from the future, was no match for these androids. Neither was his girlfriend, who got in a few good ones against the other android before going down. But down she went, just like the others.

Paradoxically Vegeta was the last to go down as it was finally lights out for him as well. As the Saiyan prince fell down unconsciously he dropped out of Super Saiyan. Much to the androids' curiosity.

Standing on the other side of the dirt road Krillin felt both horror as he watched the androids beat his friends. And at the same time revulsion as well that he let the others go to their doom and remained behind. What the hell was wrong with him? Normally he would be amongst the first to go into battle, and usually ending up getting beaten very badly. It wasn't like him to freeze up. Hell, even Yamcha, with his endless griping about being useless, still had the courage in him to keep going.

And to make things worse he was all alone here.

For some strange reason, just moments before Vegeta had ended up in dire straits Belmovekk and his three kids had disappeared. Vanished into thin air. And even though both Vegeta and Trunks, known Super Saiyans, had gone down like burning aircraft, having another Super Saiyan around might have made a difference. After all, it had been Piccolo who had once speculated that the Saiyan sorcerer might not make for a good sorcerer, but he might actually be the strongest of all three Saiyans.

But now he was gone.

Krillin never figured Belmovekk and his kids as cowards. On the contrary. Nor could he fault them for being cowards after he had stayed behind himself. But their sudden disappearance smelt more suspect then a fish market after 12 o'clock.

But Krillin had no time to ponder Belmovekk's mysterious disappearance. For the two androids suddenly touched down just twenty feet from him. As a shocked Krillin raised his two fist in a semblance of a fighting stance the male android looked at him.

"Don't worry," the android smiled, "They're all still alive. If I were you I'd hurry and give them a senzu. That should brighten up their day."

Too flabbergasted to say Krillin just stared at the android. The android wanted to turn around and walk away when he paused.

"Oh, and tell your friends that when they get stronger we will be happy to fight them again," he said as he waved goodbye, "See ya!"

And then he walked away.

"Aren't you going to ask him where Goku lives," #18 asked as #17 walked past her, "We don't have his exact address, remember?"

"It's somewhere that way, in China," #17 shrugged pointing towards the east, "Besides, it's more fun to find out for ourselves."

"You're childish," the female android said frowning, to which the other android shrugged.

"I am as our creator made me," he replied offhand.

As Krillin looked on in utter bewilderment #17 walked up to the giant #16.

"What are you looking at, #16?" he asked as the giant android seemed utterly disinterested in what had happened.

"You scared away the animals," #16 said mournfully, his little friend gone.

"Animals?" #17 said curiously as he looked around and saw nothing. Except maybe a scorpion trying to hide underneath a rock.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," #18 suggested, "It doesn't look like a lot of traffic uses this road. Not any more at least."

She was referring to the large hole Vegeta had created trying to blow her up.

"You're probably right," #17 agreed as he looked around the barren landscape, "This doesn't look like a place where lots of traffic comes. Certainly not the kind that picks up hitchhikers.

"Maybe we should go to India?" #18 suggested as she examined some of her torn clothes, "I could do with some new clothes as well."

"India should be fun," #17 said as his smile grew big, "Alright, let's….."

"WAIT!" a voice yelled, then Krillin touched down next to the androids.

"What do you want?" #17 asked without even looking at the small fighter.

"What do _you_ want?" Krillin asked back, "Are you guys trying to kill Goku? Or trying to destroy the world?"

#17 glanced briefly at #18, then he looked at Krillin.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see once we kill Goku," he replied smiling.

"But why?" Krillin asked imploringly, "What's the point? Gero was the one who hated Goku. And you killed him. There's no reason to do anything, really."

"But Gero doesn't even matter," #17 shrugged, "it's just a game. Isn't Son Goku the strongest person on the planet?"

"This is just a game?" Krillin said incredulously.

"Sure," #17 said, "That's why we're not going to ask you where he is. It's all part of the game."

Not believing what he was hearing Krillin lived through a thousand emotions. Pure evil, genuine cruelty, sadism, those were things he could understand. But that it was all a game to them?

"So, if I were to ask you to stop you wouldn't, would you?" he said hesitantly.

"We wouldn't," the big android suddenly said, "We were created to kill Son Goku."

"You heard the man," #17 added, "Now I know we did our best not to kill your friends, but if you don't give them some senzus soon, some of them may still die. You don't want that on your conscience, now do you?""

Too dumbstruck to speak Krillin just looked on as #17 waved goodbye again. Then, to add to his confusion #18 leaned over and kissed him on his cheek.

"Bye," she smiled at him, "Don't do anything stupid."

And then the three androids took off into the sky.

x

* * *

x

High in the sky above the air began to shimmer and four people suddenly became visible.

"Ow, isn't that cute?" Buffy said as she looked down upon the dumbfounded Krillin.

"She's just toying with him," Xander scoffed, "She may look cute but underneath her hot looks she has the soul of a Cordelia."

"Xander?" Willow said frowning, "She may actually like him."

"Women!" Xander said as he rolled his eyes, "Give them one sappy kiss and they instantly go Sleepless in Seattle. She's just messing with him! Anyone can see that the Noseless one is still a virgin."

"I feel awful that we didn't help them," Buffy said pitiful as she looked at the Z-fighters lying in the dirt, "I feel…, dirty?"

"I do too, young lady," Belmovekk said, "But the worm was right. Not only do these androids behave different, we should use them to our advantage."

"Plans within plans," Buffy sighed wistfully.

"So what now?" Willow asked, to which Belmovekk looked down.

"You and I will go down," he finally said, "and try to make amends. They will not take kindly to our disappearance."

"And what are we going to do?" Buffy asked. To which Belmovekk put his hand on her shoulder.

"Keep an eye on those androids, young lady. You two keep an eye on them. And try to keep them out of trouble."


	9. Interlude 'The Quality of Mercy'

**Interlude**

' **The Quality of Mercy'**

x

x

AN: _Fourth interlude already. Originally this was supposed to be the second, you gotta love where the muse will take you_. _And you know what to do afterwards. ;-)_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 17, Sometime, somewhere

x

As Bulma's car passed yet another roadblock, Xander could feel Buffy relaxing somewhat next to him in the back seat. She was still tense though, as he noticed that she was hardly paying any attention to Willow's excited babbling.

"…. and then me and Bulma ran another series of tests and now we think we might have a good chance to come up with a way to detect the androids when they are in flight so we can warn…..," Willow babbled excitedly and Xander zoned out as well, occasionally nodding to appear like he was paying attention. It wasn't even her fault. He always had a low tolerance for technobabble even in his favorite shows and he was feeling extremely tired.

Willow had left Sunnydale and the Sunnydale branch of the University of California after her breakup with Oz. Citing that she had had enough of the supernatural and that the place was safe enough these days anyway, Willow decided to take up an offer from Capsule Corp. to join their computer science division. Hell, from what Xander had heard Willow had even given up on magic altogether. Or dating the male sex even.

In the emails that she had sent them, or on her occasional visit, she never came across as being unhappy in her personal life, quite the contrary. Maybe doing what you liked to do was more rewarding after all then being Fate's Buttmonkey. Neither Xander, nor Buffy ever blamed her for leaving them, even though they missed their friend terribly.

But even as they missed her, Xander just couldn't bring himself to pay much attention to her Willowgasm. The destruction of Sunnydale, losing their loved ones and the Hellish journey through Southern California had taken its toll and now that they were relatively safe enough to relax Xander finally felt his mental exhaustion catching on to him. He just had to sit there and switch his brain off.

But not before one thing begged to be explained.

"Bulma?" he asked, "If I may ask, how did you know we were coming and where to look for us?"

"Simple," Bulma replied up front, "Gohan. He sensed that you guys were coming and being the girl genius that I am I concluded that since martial law has been in effect that you guys would probably need an ESP to make it past the Waffen SS patrolling the streets these days."

"I see," Xander nodded, then he closed his eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, "What the hell happened? I mean, one moment I live in the U.S. of A, with its Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Next thing I find myself reliving the crossing of the Wolga river in Enemy At The Gates."

Bulma didn't immediately reply, instead she looked outside as a military convoy passed them into the opposite direction.

"We're at war, Xander," Bulma said softly, "And we're not winning, that's for sure. These androids are playing genocide for fun. They were created to fight Goku and with him gone there's nothing left for them to do but kill us instead. Goku and his friends are dead, so far the estimates are that the androids killed a 100 million people worldwide already. That's more dead then the two world wars combined. The androids cut a swat of destruction across parts of the Southern US, Northern Mexico, Cuba, Morocco and Spain. And even though they tried nuking them, and destroying Las Vegas in the process, the government is powerless to stop them."

"People are scared. And people who are scared make stupid decisions. And scared governments make decisions which are even more stupid. They can't defeat the androids, Xander. So they're clinging on to the one thing that they can do, try to keep control."

x

* * *

x

Isn't it amazing, Xander thought after Bulma brought them to the Capsule Corp. headquarters to meet Gohan. If there was one universal constant it seemed that the universe liked nothing more then to pile insane amounts of 'prevent the world from destruction' responsibility onto young teenage girls and pre-pubescent Saiyan boys. Alright, half Saiyan boys.

As they met Gohan, who still had a leg and arm in a cask and various other bandages, Xander was struck by how young Goku's son still was. The kid was barely ten.

And Buffy thought she had had it rough when she had 'called'.

Despite his insanely young age the Saiyan/human hybrid seemed more grown up then his small size would hint at. Telling a vivid tale of how the Z-fighters came to an end.

After first appearing near the Australian city of Sydney the two androids then moved north along the Australian East Coast, in a very slow and methodical way. This allowed for the Z-fighters to gather and meet them head on.

Of course this was exactly what the androids had in mind.

Naturally having the greatest ego Vegeta had assumed command and in his usual 'General Melchett' idiom had gone for the full frontal assault. He paid for his arrogance by being the first to die.

After that Belmovekk had assumed command and taken on the two androids. Super Saiyan Belmovekk proved to be more then a match for an individual android. Too bad that the androids soon realized this and began to wear him out using double team tactics and their infinite energy reactors. When the Saiyan realized that he could not beat the androids nor extricate himself he gave Piccolo an order.

Save the others!

And above all, save yourself at all cost!

Belmovekk knew of the link between Piccolo and Kami. That the death of the one meant the death of the other. And if Kami were to die, so would the Earth's Dragon and the Dragonballs. And no Dragonballs meant no chance to revive the dead.

Which meant that as far as he was concerned Piccolo was literally the most important person on the planet. Aside from Kami of course.

Naturally the mighty Namek was hesitant to leave the field of battle, as were the others, not until the battle was decided that is. As soon as Belmovekk appeared to fall the others jumped in.

And got their ass handed to them.

Krillin was the first to die, followed by Yamcha. After that Piccolo finally realized that this battle would not be won by force of arms. At least not theirs. Gathering the fallen Piccolo ordered Tien and Gohan to leave as Belmovekk bought them the time to escape.

But not enough.

As the androids slew the Saiyan they chased Piccolo and the others relentlessly across the Pacific. Tien was the next to fall as he decided he'd rather make a stand then having to run.

They made short change of him.

On a deserted island the androids finally caught up with Piccolo and Gohan.

The smart thing would have been to abandon Gohan and make sure that the Dragonballs continued to exist. Maybe even revive the kid after he recovered the remains. It was what Belmovekk had told him to do.

It was the smart thing to do.

It was the logical thing to do.

Hell, even Gohan was willing to buy Piccolo the time he needed to escape.

Never let it be said that when the going got tough, and the tough no longer were able to call in for air support, that Piccolo would abandon the one person he loved more then anything in this world. In the end Piccolo could not bear to leave Gohan behind and together they made their final stand.

And got completely and utterly trounced by the androids.

Despite risking his life trying to save Gohan Piccolo was unable to prevent Goku's son from getting beaten into the ground. It was only Piccolo's final attack that kept the androids from killing Gohan as he lay there gasping for air.

Using an attack that converted his entire remaining chi and bodily mass into energy and directed it against the two androids Piccolo blew himself up, and most of the island as well. He probably got in the best attack against the androids of the day in the process.

But it wasn't enough to kill them.

As water gushed in to fill in the crater Piccolo had formed, what remained of the island resembled more an atoll now then an island. But Gohan had survived.

Only to find himself staring at the two androids as they landed in front of him.

"Let's kill him now," the female android said bored, "Let's get it over with."

"Are you kidding?" the male android said, "This has been fun! If we kill him there wouldn't be any left."

"There's still between 6 and 7 billion people left to slaughter," the female android said matter of fact.

"Yeah, but they won't be as fun as this little tyke when he's all grown up and had his vitamins and spinach," the male android said smirking.

"God, you're so immature," the female android said as she folded her arms across her chest and turned her back on him, "Fine, have it your way, #17, but when this little fur ball grows up and kicks your ass, don't come crying to me for help."

"Like I need it," #17 snorted, then he hunched down in front of Gohan, "This is your lucky day, sport. The first day of the rest of your life. Make the most of it because one day we will meet again and then I will kill you."

Next thing the android reached out and grabbed Gohan's hand and broke his wrist. As Gohan yelled in pain the android smiled and waved goodbye.

"Something to remember me by," he said before he and the other android took off. After which they laid waste to the state of Hawaii before coming to Southern California.

As Gohan finished his tale Xander put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. This was the first time they had heard the full story of how the Big Guy had died and he fully expected her to burst into tears.

To his surprise she didn't. Not showing any signs of emotion she went to the window of Gohan's bedroom and stared outside, still holding her sister.

"We should make them pay for what they did," she finally said, "Work out, get stronger, until one day we can defeat those monsters."

Okay, fucked up Buffy had been replaced by angry Buffy. That was a good sign, right? After shock came anger, right?

"It will take a long time, though," Xander added, "Years maybe. A lot of people will die in that time."

"Until we're strong enough there's not a whole lot we can do anyway," Buffy said flat, "Until then people will just have to die."

"Okay, generalissimo Buffy Stalin, before we casually condemn most people to die, maybe there are tons of other things we could do?" Xander said as he gestured around, "There's still magic left in this world. Maybe there's some artifact that we could use?"

"And how would you know which one to use?" Buffy countered, "With all due respect, Xander, you're no Giles, and neither do you have his books."

"I don't know," Xander said as he looked upwards in exasperation, "Surely he's not the only Watcher left in this world. And then there's the Council in London."

"You mean that pompous ass of a Travers?" Buffy snorted, "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to help us. We fired him, remember?"

"It's the end of the world as we know it, Buff," Xander shrugged, "It's worth a….."

Before Xander could finish the door opened and Willow peeked inside.

"You guys," she said horrified, "We just heard, the androids just destroyed London."

Buffy looked over her shoulder at Xander and began to sneer.

"Fine!" Xander said as he threw his hands in the air, "I give up!"

"Did I miss something?" Willow asked surprised.

"Everything's fine," Buffy said as she walked over to Willow, "Can you take care of my sister, Will? Me, Xander and Gohan have some things to discuss."

x

* * *

x

When Willow returned to the lab she found Bulma studying a map of the world. It was _the_ map. Covered in red pins in a pattern that was growing daily. Going from Australia to the Pacific, to the Western United States, Mexico, Cuba, Southern Florida, Morocco, parts of Spain, the French West Coast and now London.

"How are they?" Bulma asked without taking her eyes of the map.

"It's like I don't even know her anymore," Willow said wistfully, "She has changed."

"Losing your entire family does that to people," Bulma said in a way that suggested that a rather big part of her brain was not busy handling the conversation with Willow but engaged elsewhere.

"And Xander, it's like he only cares about Buffy now," Willow continued.

"Didn't you once say he had a crush on her?" Bulma said offhand.

"Yeah, but that was different," Willow countered, "He was like puppy love Xander. Trying to be nice to her and never getting noticed Xander. Now he's like Sergeant-Major Xander of the 51st Buffy Division, reporting for duty. Following her into Hell if need be."

"Well, you left their life and made yourself a new one," Bulma shrugged, "You went one way, they went another. And they did go through Hell and back coming here."

"I suppose," Willow sighed, "Is there any more news from London?"

"Not a word," Bulma said shaking her head, "If anything the total silence leads me to think that whatever news we will get will probably be terrible."

"How many people could be dead?" Willow asked.

"Who knows?" Bulma shrugged again, "While they had an inkling that the androids were coming there is no way they could have evacuated everybody in time. If they even tried that is…."

Next thing Bulma struck her fist against the wall.

"DAMN!" she shouted, "I wish there was a pattern behind their attacks! I'm a bona fide genius. I should be able to do so. I wish Goku was still here."

Angrily Bulma kicked against a basket, causing paper to spill over the floor. At which point little Mayan, still in Willow's arms began to cry.

"Don't cry," Willow said soothingly as she began to cradle the child, "Auntie Bulma didn't mean to be angry."

"Ooh, I didn't mean to be angry," Bulma said as she pulled a sad face in front of the child, "I'm just….. hey, wait a minute, this is Belmovekk's kid, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Willow said, unsure what Bulma was asking for.

"So, besides my son this is the only Human-Saiyan hybrid left in the universe, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Willow replied, upon which Bulma reached inside Mayan's clothes and gently took out Mayan's tail in her hands.

"Then why does this child still have a tail?" she said sternly, "Don't you people know what happens to Saiyans with tails on a full moon?"

" Uh, yeah," Willow nodded, "But Belmo insisted that any of his children would get to keep their tails."

"And that may work for him," Bulma said still holding Mayan's tail, "When he was still around that is. But I've seen first hand what an Ozaru can do, and I don't want one underneath my roof. My house, my rules! First thing tomorrow this comes off."

All the attention to her tail, with the stimulation provided by Bulma made Mayan giggle in delight.

"I don't think Buffy would like that," Willow said tentatively as Bulma let go of the tail..

"And that concerns me in what way?" Bulma said not very impressed.

"Mayan's the only family that she's got," Willow said as she tucked Mayan's tail back in her clothes, "She can be very, um, protective when it comes to family. My advice, ask her first. Or chances are you'll be wearing your, uh, um, ass for a hat?"

Bulma said nothing for a moment, then she turned around and threw her hands into the air.

"Great, now we have to break out the blinds again for full moons!" she said exasperated.

After she had thrown her hissy fit Bulma sat down behind her working desk.

"Since it's her sister, why did she put you on nanny detail?" she asked, "or did she had her fill of sister dearest for a while?"

"No," Willow said shaking her head, "It's more like, well, they're planning something. I think they want to fight the androids."

"I'd be surprised if they didn't," Bulma snorted as she stared at the map of the world again. Gohan's his father's son. Goku would go to any length to fight a menace like this. He may be ten but Gohan's not a kid any more. And your friends have been in the care of a Saiyan for three years. Believe me, that stuff rubs off on you. They're going to hit the gym from now on and only come out to eat and sleep."

"Now the good news is that while they're training they won't be getting in any danger. And _we_ will have the time to come up with something that will stop those androids. Technology created those things, technology should be able to stop them. And we, Willow, we know technology."

"Yeah, you're right," Willow said as she smiled again, "We do know technical stuff."

"Mind over matter, baby," Bulma smiled back as she tapped the side of her head, "Now put the kid down and come help me."

Willow looked stunned, then she looked at the floor of Bulma's lab, then at Mayan again.

"You mean down or down down?" she asked unsure.

"I mean in the box," Bulma said as she waved over her shoulder, "Put him with Trunks. He'll love having a playmate."

Bulma had waved to the play pen that was in the corner of her lab, where she kept her son. Since Trunks was half Saiyan it was structurally reinforced to withstand a tank driving into it.

"Aunty Willow has to go back to work now," Willow said to Mayan as she walked over to the box, "So you behave and be a good girl now, okay?"

Then she put the child in the play pen next to a little boy who eyed her curiously.

"Hello, Trunks, I've brought you a new friend. Meet your new friend Mayan."


	10. Chapter Five

**Chapter 5**

' **Bulletproof…. I Wish I Was'**

x

x

AN: _It's odd trying to come up with some comments regarding this chapter when you just spent weeks working on chapter 10. And by now you guys should know the drill, right?_

x

* * *

x

A day + 2

x

"What? They even knew about Senzu beans?"

After the mighty Namek had gotten his senzu bean and been revitalized he seemed mighty displeased with the way events had unfolded. A feeling which, of course, went for most of the others as well.

"What does it mean?" Faith asked Piccolo, "If they knew about it, why didn't they kill us when they had the chance?"

"Are they saying we're not worth the effort to kill?" Tien said thinking aloud.

A loud laughter suddenly erupted and everybody turned around and saw the vampire Spike laugh. Spike had for some reason not benefited one bit from either a Senzu bean or Willow's healing spell, so he was still hurt. But even though the laughter caused him pain he didn't stop.

"Of course you're not worth the effort to kill," Spike said after he finally stopped laughing, "None of you is worth the effort to kill. And I should know. I'm evil. I killed for fun."

"Shut up, Spike," Willow said but Spike held up a hand to stop her.

"Not this time," he said undeterred, "Like I said, I'm evil. I know evil. I'm not saying that these droids are good, but I don't think they go to the club meeting. If they didn't kill us it wasn't because they want to sent us any secret decoder ring messages. They just don't care about us."

"Maybe the vampire's right?" Krillin suggested as he unconsciously toughed the cheek were #18 had kissed him, "Maybe they….."

The little fighter stopped talking and just looked down.

"Whatever their reasons, they're incredibly strong, too strong," Piccolo said, then he glared at Belmovekk, "Of course it doesn't help that some of us deserted us when we most needed them."

"I had my reasons," the Saiyan shrugged, "I wanted to make sure that they really were who we were told that they would be."

"Small comfort if you're getting your ass whooped," Tien snorted in response.

"I would have stepped in if things had gotten dire," Belmovekk responded calmly.

"We just got our ass kicked!" Faith exclaimed flabbergasted, "What were you waiting for, an open invitation?"

"Enough," Piccolo said as he dusted some dirt of his clothes, "This bickering helps us nowhere. It's obvious none of us here has got what it takes to defeat those things."

Meanwhile Vegeta had held himself aloof from the rest and just stared ahead blankly. With Trunks staring at him.

"I feel like I should do something," Trunks said to Mayan next to him, "Like I should….."

Before he could finish the earth began to tremble, then a blaze of chi erupted around Vegeta and the Saiyan prince took off like a rocket and disappeared into the sky.

"FATHER?" Trunks yelled and he was about to take off after him when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and it was Piccolo.

"Don't," the Namek said shaking his head, "Leave him alone for now."

"But I….," Trunks tried to say but Piccolo shook his head again.

"Ever since he came to Earth your father has lived in Goku's shadow," Piccolo said, "And it has eaten him up ever since. The moment he became a Super Saiyan his old pride and confidence returned. But now that he's been humbled by that android girl he's taken the biggest beating since Goku outclassed him. It didn't help that you seem to hero worship Goku either. Trust me, he does not want you or anyone else around right now."

"Listen to him, Trunks," Mayan said, "He knows your father more then you do."

"I know," Trunks said, then he sighed and sat down on a large rock, pulling out his damaged sword and examining the dented blade up closely, "I'm sorry that I was so useless today. Causing all this confusion, acting all like an idiot, I wasn't even able to put up a decent fight."

"Don't sweat it," Faith said as she broke out a smile, "Those guys knocked you out cold even when you were a Super Saiyan. No shame in being that outclassed. At least you did something. Unlike some."

Faith glared accusingly towards Belmovekk, who at least had the decency to look slightly uncomfortable.

"It's hard to imagine," Tien said, trying to wrap his mind around today's events, "You defeated Freeza like he was nothing, yet you couldn't do a thing against those androids. To tell you the truth, no matter how strong Goku has gotten, or how strong Belmovekk is, I don't think either of them is that much stronger then Vegeta. I don't thing any them can defeat those androids."

As the Z-fighters and looked at each other Trunks sheathed his sword on his back in one easy movement, then he looked Mayan in the eyes.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked her.

"That depends," she replied, "If you had a sense of humor I'd say you were thinking about that one thing. But knowing you I don't think so. It's the other thing, right?"

"Yes," Trunks nodded, then he stood up, "These androids are indeed different then the ones we fought in the future. They were strong, but I could fight them for a while, as could Gohan. Even Mayan managed to go toe to toe with #18 and got away with it."

"When Trunks fought them before coming here they defeated him through team work," Mayan added, "but never this easily."

"Are you saying that these are stronger?" Tien asked.

"That's what she said, you dunce," Spike snorted.

"Shut up, Spike!" Willow quickly said, but the vampire wasn't impressed.

"Our future's bleak then," Tien said sullen, "we're fucked. So what now?"

There was no immediate reply to that as Piccolo looked around.

"Fine," he said, "Then I suggest that you and the others go to Goku's and take him somewhere safe. If these androids want to fulfill their programming, then making sure they never find Goku buys us more time to come up with a plan. Plus we can use the manpower."

"Good call," Krillin said, then he looked up at Piccolo, "But what are you going to do?"

Piccolo didn't respond. Instead he looked up into the sky.

"I have an idea," he finally said.

"Why do you look like that?" Krillin asked suspiciously, "Do you have some kind of plan? Tell us, Piccolo, we're on your side."

"You're on my side?" Piccolo scoffed, "Don't piss me off, you noseless freak! Since when did I become your friend? You seem to forget that I'm still a demon. I'm just using you to help me conquer this world. Never forget that!"

Shocked at Piccolo's outburst the group fell silent. Except for Faith.

"Jolly Green? Why are you….." she tried to say.

"And don't you Jolly Green me!" Piccolo shouted angrily, "I'm fed up with you calling me stupid names. I'm the fucking Demon King, not your baby sitter. I was only doing that Saiyan backstabber a favor. Since he backstabbed us you're his problem again. Have fun!"

Then Piccolo turned towards Belmovekk.

"And you! In the three years that I've known you you've made my antennae turn grey! Goku may be a simpleton and Vegeta an idiot. But you're smart. And that makes you ten times more dangerous because when you fuck up, you REALLY fuck up. As usual you're letting your obsessions getting the better of you again!"

Having said what he wanted to say, like Vegeta previously, Piccolo then erupted in a blaze of chi and launched himself in the air..

"Something crawled up his butt, alright," Spike said as he watched Piccolo disappear into the distance, "I like it!"

"Yeah, he did!" Faith said as she pointed accusingly towards Belmovekk.

"What's this Demon King business?" Mayan asked stunned.

"Piccolo's the offspring of Piccolo Daimao," Tien explained to the girl from the future, "The Demon King. Created when Kami Sama purged himself of everything that was evil inside him. When Goku killed Piccolo Daimao, the demon spewed forth an egg that became Piccolo, his offspring, created to wreak revenge on Goku and conquer the Earth for him."

"Oh," Mayan said even more stunned as Tien looked up to the heavens.

"I have to admit that I've not thought of Piccolo like that in long time," he said thoughtful, "Him always fighting alongside us. I wonder if he still wants to rule the Earth."

"I must confess that Piccolo does not strike me as the kind of….," Belmovekk tried to say when Faith silenced him with an angry stare.

"He was lying," Krillin said as a smile grew on his face, "Whatever he used to be, he's like Goku and Vegeta now. He just wants to be the strongest."

"And that explains his strange behavior how?" Mayan asked the small fighter.

"He's going to take advantage of his secret weapon," Krillin smiled as he tapped where his nose should have been.

"Newsflash, shortstop," Spike said as he fumbled for some cigarettes, "You're not making a lot of sense here. Oh, bollocks, I'm out."

Spike threw an empty pack of cigarettes to the ground.

"What secret weapon are you talking about?" Trunks asked.

"He went that way," Krillin said pointing towards the east, "Do you know what's there?"

Trunks and Mayan looked at each other unable to come up with an answer.

"It might not exist in their time any more," Belmovekk said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Kami lives there," Krillin said, "Kami-Sama, guardian spirit of the Earth."

"Kami?" Trunks said as he looked puzzled at Mayan again.

"God, sometimes I wonder how you even manage to tie your shoe laces in the morning," she said dejected, "Didn't you ever listen to Gohan or your mother? Kami! Guy from Namek, who supposedly ascended to some form of demi-God status? Died when Piccolo did? Creator of the Dragonballs?"

"Oh," Trunks said sheepishly.

"Girl, what do you see in him?" Faith asked Mayan curiously, "Is he a retard?"

"He's Vegeta's son alright," Mayan shrugged, "so I knew he wasn't going to win any science awards. He's gotta nice ass though."

"He sure does," Faith said admiringly as she checked out Trunks' ass, "Nice package. Fancy a threesome?"

"I still don't get it though," Tien asked Krillin, "What's so special at Kami's lookout?"

"When I was at Namek the Great Elder told me that if he hadn't split himself into Kami and Piccolo, good and evil, he could have easily been the strongest Namek in existence. That he could have defeated Freeza. Or a Saiyan for that matter."

"Are you saying that Piccolo is going to rejoin himself with Kami again?" Belmovekk asked, to which Krillin nodded.

"Good and evil are going to rejoin again to become the legendary warrior of the Nameks," Krillin said, "And since he's gotten a lot stronger since their original breakup he will become a Super Namek. Just like Goku and you became Super Saiyans."

Belmovekk's eyes grew big for a moment, as did those of the others. Then the Saiyan looked towards the east for a moment.

"Wait a second," Tien said, "If Kami-Sama joins with Piccolo he will be gone. And with him the Dragonballs. We would not be able to revive anyone after that."

"They would be gone anyway if Piccolo were to die," Krillin countered, "Besides, haven't we all used up that get free out of jail card by now?"

"Piccolo absolutely hates Kami," Faith said downcast, "He must be desperate by now."

Faith's chi flames sprang into life as well and for the third time somebody launched himself into the skies.

After Faith's sudden departure the discussion went on for a moment, but Belmovekk wasn't paying much attention, as he heard a voice laden with harmonic overtones.

"This latest development could derail our plans," Amūn said, appearing from behind the Saiyan, "If this Super Piccolo were to appear before your great enemy make his move who knows what could happen? Maybe he should be stopped."

"Be silent, worm," Belmovekk whispered softly, "I will do many things, but there are limits. Speak of it no more."

"Even if it means that Buffy could die?" the Goa'uld specter said.

"I said be silent!" the Saiyan hissed softly.

"As you wish," Amūn smiled amiably, then he made a subtle bow and vanished. No sooner had he disappeared when Spike suddenly stepped before him and snapped his fingers.

"Hey, Big Scary!" the vampire said impatiently, "Getting forgetful in your old age? They were asking you a question."

As the Saiyan looked around he noticed that everybody was staring at him.

"I am sorry," he said apologetic, "I was thinking, did I miss something?"

"Stick with the program," Spike said as he stepped aside, then he muttered something that sounded suspiciously much like old goat.

"How long did it take you to heal from that disease when you had it?" Krillin asked, "We need to know how long Goku will be out of the picture."

"The medicine usually takes ten days to work," Mayan said, "But Aun…., uh, Willow and Krillin say you took less time to get better."

"You were up and about in that wheelchair of yours in a day," Krillin said.

"Yeah but the disease obviously mutated," Willow countered, "It was only meant for him. It took more then a year for Goku to get sick. And Goku was way sicker then Belmo was. If it infects humans as well anything could be possible."

"Why not err on the side of caution and assume the full ten days?" Belmovekk suggested.

"I agree," Tien said, then he clapped his hands together and rubbed his hands, "So that means we have to find a way to hide Goku from those androids for ten days minimal."

"We should take him to Master Roshi's house," Krillin said, "It's secluded, off the beaten track, and….."

"And they probably know where it's too," Willow countered, "Look, I mean, they knew a lot about you guys, but next to nothing about us. Maybe hiding Goku with one of yours isn't the smart thing to do."

"My sister is right," Belmovekk concurred, "Why not take him to Sunnydale?"

"Are you insane?" Tien said aghast, "I still have nightmares about the last time I was there."

"But they are right," Krillin nodded, "They know too much about us. Gero has been spying on us for years. But he knows nothing about them. It would be a great place to hide Goku. Especially those caves underneath that town."

"Angel's old cave is still available," Willow suggested. The mentioning of Angel's name brought forth a snigger from Spike and something that sounded a lot like tosser. As everybody looked at each other Trunks spoke up.

"Can we come along?"

x

* * *

x

"You're crazy, you know that, right?"

Unperturbed by #18's criticism #17 didn't even look over his shoulder. While the male android stood by a road, waiting for a car to pass, the female android had made herself comfortable underneath a tree. The large #16 stood close by, entertaining himself with a bird that was perched on his hand.

"All part of the game, #18," #17 said

"You're not a kid anymore, #17, #18 replied, "Although, you are a man. Boys will be boys, right?"

This time #17 did look over his shoulder.

"Maybe I'm acting childish because I never had a childhood," he said, "At least not one I can remember."

"Whatever," #18 shrugged, then she pointed to the road, "Not that I care but a car is coming."

"Finally," #17 said hopeful and held up his thumb.

x

* * *

x

"This is never going to work."

"Sure it is," Xander replied as he deftly drove the car through the forested roads of Southern Kashmir.

It wasn't their own car. Well, it was in the sense that Xander had given some Indian guy $200 in cash to give them his car. And Buffy still wasn't sure the car, a Japanese minivan deathtrap so old it was probably old already when Moses had used it to cross the Sinai desert, wouldn't die on them any moment. Only two things seemed to be working for sure, the car horn and an old radio cassette player hooked up to the car's battery. The car's stereo apparently didn't work, but the car came with an excellent selection of tapes with highly annoying Indian Bollywood music.

After seeing that the androids were just basically sitting by a road trying to hitch a ride, Xander felt he had the most brilliant idea ever. Why not offer them a ride?

Naturally Buffy felt the idea was a little less then stellar.

But before she could talk him out of his idea he had already bought the shitbag Suzuki and now they were on their way to pick up the gruesome threesome.

"We're gonna drive this thing into a ravine before we get there," Buffy said moping as she browsed through the collection of tapes, "does this guy have anything else other then Apu and the Chipmunks?"

"We're in India, Buff," Xander said as he pretended to breathe in the air, "India! Land of Gurus, Fakirs, elephants, the Taj Mahal. Smell the curries, Buff, smell the curries!"

"Oh, I'm smelling something alright, Mr. Lonely Planet," Buffy said, hinting towards the odious smell that lingered in the car, then she threw the box with tapes in the back, "Well, you got the car, Mr. Hot Rod, what makes you think that those androids are still waiting for us?"

Xander glanced at Buffy and made a polite snigger.

"Did you see the size of that third one? Trust me, nobody's gonna pick up a hitchhiker who's nearly eight feet tall."

"If you say so," Buffy said, then she sighed, "I shouldn't have thrown away my old mix tapes."

"Where's your spirit of adventure, Buff?" Xander asked as he rounded a corner, "Ah, there they are. Told ya!"

"They're gonna recognize us," Buffy said as Xander pressed whatever the hell this car was still using for brakes.

"We kept a low profile," Xander said confidently, "We kept out of the fight, there's a good chance they won't recognize us."

"They're androids," Buffy countered, "As in computers on legs. Computers don't forget, Xander, they got hard drives."

"They also got egos. And the black haired one seems mighty pleased with himself," Xander smiled as the car came to a halt, then he rolled down the window, "Greetings, fellow travelers in strange lands, are you in need of a ride?"

x

* * *

x

In the SGC ready room many had been glued to the television sets as report after report came in of what was happening. In horror they had watched as the Twin Towers in New York had come down, then more attacks in Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Fort Hood, Los Angeles and even Europe. And of course Sydney.

By now it was clear that a wave of suicide bombers had targeted the United States and its European allies and that they were under attack. Even the SGC, which dealt with offworld dangers, was now in a heightened state of alert as all leaves had been cancelled.

Of course the SGC had a little more heads up as they had been mobilized for something else. Most of their chi trained SG teams were at the ready, both on Earth and in orbit in space, with their captured Ha'tak on full alert.

Of course, while they were all ready for something, they, and nobody else for that matter, had expected it to coincide with a suicide bomber offensive.

As the flagship team, SG-1 was gathered in the command and control room when General Hammond walked in.

"General, any more news?" Sam asked the general, who had just returned from a teleconference with the joint chiefs and the White House.

"Nothing good I'm afraid," the portly general said shaking his head, "the White House is out for blood."

"What about our report that Anubis has returned and might make a move against Abydos?" O'Neill asked, but again general Hammond shook his head.

"They don't care right now," Hammond sighed, "In fact Kinsey's pushing to have the Enterprise re-assigned to strike at the bases from which these terrorists have come from."

"That's madness!" Daniel said horrified, "What if these androids strike again? It's probably the only thing we have to attack these things."

"Maybe we should count our blessings instead," Hammond said sullen, "Let's go to my office."

SG-1 and the general retired to his office where the general sat down behind his desk.

"By direct order of the president all Special Training teams except for SG-13 and 21 have been re-assigned back to Joint Forces Command," he said.

"You've got to be kidding me!" O'Neill exclaimed out loud, "What are we to use against Anubis now? Harsh language?"

"I'm sorry, Jack," General Hammond said apologetic, "There's nothing I can do. This comes directly from the White House."

"Isn't this a direct violation of the agreement we had with that Saiyan?" Daniel said looking around.

"Satiya won't be pleased," Teal'c said stoically.

"Oh, like this wasn't coming," Jack said ranting, "Ever since that weasel Kinsey managed to worm himself into the new administration I'm surprised it's lasted this long. Mark my words, now that he has a foot in the door he'll continue to strip us of more assets until we have nothing left. And then he'll shut us down."

Nobody said anything after that for a while, then General Hammond spoke up.

"Any news from our 'friends'?" he asked, looking at Sam.

"There have been reports of strong seismic tremors coming in from Afghanistan and strange lights being seen. A UN aid agency in Kandahar has reported that at least two nuclear weapons, or something similar, were believed to be detonated somewhere east of Kandahar."

"That sounds like them alright," Hammond nodded, "Anything else?"

"A modified AWACS flying close to Pakistan has reported that several unidentified flying objects have been seen leaving Afghanistan on a wide dispersal pattern," Sam said as she read from a print out, "Some went to India, one went west to the Caucasus and two are coming this way. Other then that most went to India, it looks like they are going their separate ways."

"Mission accomplished then it would seem?" Hammond said hopeful.

"I hope not," O'Neill said sullen as he sat down in a chair, "Cause if they did manage to take out those androids then Kinsey will use it as encouragement to strip us of resources even faster. Mark my words."

"Come on, Jack," Hammond said, "we still have some friends up the Hill. It won't be tha….."

Beep!

The buzzer on Hammond's intercom went off.

"Yes?" Hammond said speaking into the intercom.

"Outside sentry ward three here, sir," a voice spoke.

"Yes son, what is it?" Hammond asked.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," the voice of a young soldier said somewhat agitated, "But there's someone here to see you, sir."

Hammond looked surprised at Jack, who looked equally surprised back.

"You know what to do with official visitors, son," Hammond finally said.

"I know, sir," the soldier's voice said, then he halted for a moment, "But these aren't official visitors."

"You know what to do with un-official visitors, son," the general replied after exchanging some puzzled glances with the colonel.

"I know, sir," the soldier's voice said unsure, "But these kinda dropped in out of nowhere and….. hey!"

Out of nowhere Belmovekk the Saiyan materialized inside the general's office, two fingers at his forehead. And with him a man with bleach blond hair and a leather trench coat.

"Satiya!" Teal'c said excited as he recognized his mentor and gave a slight bow of respect. O'Neill on the other hand seemed less happy to see the Saiyan.

"Great! He's back again!" he snorted.

"God dammit, Belmovekk!" Hammond said annoyed as he stood up, "You can't just drop in here unannounced!"

"Did I not just gave fair warning of my arrival?" the Saiyan said deadpan.

"I…., uh," Hammond stammered, then he spoke into the intercom, "As you were, son."

"Teal'c, Commander O'Neill, Commander Carter," Belmovekk said as he greeted everybody in the room, then he halted at the sight of Daniel Jackson, "Master Jackson, I had heard of your return."

"If you can call it like that," Daniel replied.

"Master Giles told me that you once visited him while you were 'ascended', is there anything you can tell me about what it was like?"

"He did?" Daniel said surprised, then he looked oddly at his team mates, "First time I hear of this."

"This is news to you?" Belmovekk asked surprised.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said apologetic, "but I really don't remember anything of when I was ascended."

"A pity really," Belmovekk said slightly disappointed, "I would really like to…."

"You didn't come her to talk about Daniel's resurrection, didn't you?" O'Neill interjected, "You could have done that at any time. And who is that?"

"That?" Belmovekk said as he looked over his shoulder towards the bleached extra he had brought along, "Oh that? That is Spike. He is just along because he has been a bad boy who needs supervising."

"Sod off!" Spike said as he flipped Belmovekk off using the two fingered English salute.

Ignoring Spike the Saiyan gave a brief outline of what had happened in Sydney, Central-Australia and Afghanistan. The revelation that Gero's lab had been in Afghanistan caused quite a stir.

"This is good," O'Neill said, "not only can we use this, it explains certain things."

"What certain things?" the Saiyan asked puzzled.

"As you may know a wave of suicide bombers have struck the US," Hammond explained.

"We heard something as much while still in Sydney," Belmovekk said, "But what is the problem. Surely a suicide bomber, while horrific, is limited in the amount of explosives he can carry?"

"Those suicide bombers have brought down the Twin Towers in New York!" O'Neill countered, "That's hardly limited."

Belmovekk gave a quizzical look.

"Then either those buildings were of poor construction or security was non-existent," he said surprised, "How does one bring down a large multi-tier building with just some explosives?"

"They do if they are some super jacked up explosives," O'Neill said, "And if they are implanted."

As the Saiyan looked on stunned Sam joined in.

"Two suicide bombers tried to attack Fort Hood in Texas," she said, "One managed to reach the building that housed III Corps' headquarters and killed a lot of people. But the other one was stopped just in time. A guard shot him in the head. You want to know what the autopsy said?"

Sam gave the Saiyan a set of print outs. Which he quickly read through once he put on his reading glasses. Then he reached a certain passage and looked up in shock.

"Gero type implants?" he said flabbergasted.

"From what we can gather his explosive implants and circuitry bear a remarkable resemblance to some of the technology that was recovered on those two androids you captured," Daniel explained, "Or on some of the technology that was recovered from the Initiative facility in Cleveland."

"Do you think there is a connection between Gero and these suicide bombers?" Belmovekk asked.

"Do you think there isn't?" O'Neill said, "Gee, we have this big waste of a country full of terrorists who hate us and suddenly not only does his technology turn up inside terrorists, he has his actual lab in that country. Do I need to say more?"

"We should go there, right now," Sam said to Hammond, "Explore that lab, see what else we can find. Maybe a means to counter these new suicide bombers."

"That might be a tad difficult," Belmovekk said sheepishly as he scratched his hair.

"Oh god, I feel a huge but coming," O'Neill moaned.

"Belmovekk, what happened exactly after you guys found Gero's lab?" Hammond asked sternly.

"I, um," the Saiyan said unsure.

"What he's trying to say is that Droopy from the Future had a hissy fit and blew the place up," Spike spoke up.

"Why is he even here?" O'Neill remarked glancing at Spike.

"Because he does more damage when left to his own," the Saiyan replied.

"Doesn't the same apply to you as well?" O'Neill countered, much to Spike's amusement.

"Is it true though?" Hammond asked the Saiyan, "Has the lab been destroyed?"

"It might be possible," Belmovekk admitted, then he tried to explain using his hands, "Trunks did try to blow up the androids and he was aiming away from the main laboratory. But he did use an awful lot of chi. I guess it would depend on how strong the mountain is in which Gero had built his laboratory."

"Was it the first or the second explosion?" Sam asked as she started up her laptop.

"The first," the Saiyan said.

"Then I might be able to use seismic data and NASA telemetry to pinpoint the location of his laboratory," Sam said excited.

"You do that, major," Hammond said encouragingly, then he looked at the Saiyan again, "But since there was more then one explosion I take it the first wasn't successful in destroying those androids?"

"Uh, no," Belmovekk said again unsure, "There was a…., uh…"

"Oh for God sakes," Spike spoke up again, "just tell them that you chickened out and let them go."

"Shut up, Spike," Belmovekk hissed annoyed.

"Is it true?" Hammond asked shocked, "Are these androids still at large because of you?"

Belmovekk pretended to think.

"Not exactly," he finally said, "Yes, technically I might have stood by and let them go about their business."

"Business?" Spike exclaimed, "We got beaten into a pulp and you did nothing to help us!"

"Are you sure he's on our side?" O'Neill asked Hammond as he pointed towards the Saiyan.

"Explain yourself," Hammond said.

"I would rather not," Belmovekk said, then he told what happened after Trunks had blown up the lab and Vegeta had gone after the androids. And got his ass handed back to him.

"So you're saying that the androids are still at large after you stood by and did nothing?" Hammond said accusingly, "And not only that, there are now three androids at large?"

"You make it sound like it is all my fault," Belmovekk said aggrieved.

"Don't act all innocent," O'Neill said angry, "You stood by and did nothing."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to know what we are dealing with, commander," the Saiyan said snide, "Fact: What we were told off by Trunks was incorrect. Instead of Androids #17 and #18 destroying Sydney we instead met Androids #19 and #20. And Android #20 turned out to be Gero himself. Fact: The heart virus attacked Goku later then planned. Fact: Gero manages to activate androids #17 and #18 and they kill him to activate another android. Which, fact: we were never told off either. Fact: Instead of killing us all, the androids let us all live and go away. I can only conclude that we are dealing with different androids then the ones Trunks engaged in the future. Which leads me to believe that the future Trunks comes from is less and less our future and more and more an alternate reality of sorts."

"What a load of bull!" O'Neill snorted.

"He may have a point though," Sam interjected, "Events have changed since we received our first forewarning. When we went in the past our actions in that past influenced the present as we found out. If this Trunks has returned from the future, which should be changed by what has changed in the past three years, and he is unfamiliar with them then I can only conclude that he is not from the future but an alternate reality."

"I still think it's a load of bull," O'Neill said obstinately.

"In my defense I would like to state that the androids are being watched," Belmovekk said, "If any transgressions were to take place we would know."

"Small comfort to all of the people that will get killed," O'Neill said curt.

"It is as it is, commander," the Saiyan shrugged.

"Alright, it is as it is," Hammond said he put both hands on his desk, "Major Carter, did you locate the location of Dr. Gero's lab?"

"I think I have, sir," Sam replied.

"Good," Hammond said approvingly, "Then SG-1, take SG-21 with you and go there to see what you can learn."

"We'll do, general," O'Neill said as he stood up.

"I'm going back to the teleconferencing room to report to the joint chiefs," Hammond said as he stood up."

"Prudent instructions," Belmovekk said approvingly, "Now that you have been informed we will be on our way as well. Come Spike!"

"Oh no you don't!" Hammond said sternly before they could leave, "You're going with them!"

"For crying out loud!" O'Neill protested, "Him? You've got to be kidding?"

"But I am needed elsewhere," the Saiyan protested as well, "And I have been there already. What use could I be?"

"Other then showing the way, probably not much," Hammond said, "But like the good colonel said, you do more damage when left to your own."

Before Belmovekk could say anything Spike fell to the ground laughing his ass off.

x

* * *

x

By the time he had reached the Pacific Piccolo had noticed that he was being followed. And he had a pretty good idea by who.

It had been foolish to expect her to remain behind.

Piccolo came up with and rejected nearly a dozen scenarios how he should dissuade Faith from following him. But he just couldn't come up with anything decent. She was too headstrong for that.

Besides, it would only slow him down anyway. So instead he allowed her to tag along from a great distance. There was time to put her in her place once he had reached the Tenka bowl.

He hated, no, loathed what had to be done. He may not be a demon like his father, or pure evil like his father. But he still inherited his sire's revulsion of Kami and everything that he was.

But this was no time to give in to personal feelings and dislikes. The future of the planet was at stake and if that idiot Belmovekk wasn't going to step up to the plate and with Goku sick, someone had too. He wasn't going to let Trunks' nightmare come about.

As he crossed the American West-Coast Piccolo's steeled his resolve and pushed on, kicking in the afterburners and ignoring everything that was in his path. Which happened to include aircraft being scrambled from two bases that were close to his path. Luckily for him he traveled too fast for them to catch up.

On he pressed until he finally neared that large column that went up into the sky and which everybody felt compelled to ignore. Traveling upwards into the sky Piccolo passed the bulbous outgrowth where Carrin lived with that fool Yajirobe, the both of them looking on as he passed.

Finally he reached the Tenka bowl. And as he came down for the landing with a small flash Piccolo created a new cape and turban for himself.

After all, if one goes to meet a demi-god and ask him to lay down his life, one has to do so in a certain style.

Finally Piccolo touched down on the Tenka bowl and found Kami and Popo there waiting for him.

For a moment the three of them stared at each other in an uncomfortable silence.

"You know why I came," Piccolo finally said sternly.

"I know," Kami said as he gripped his staff a little tighter, "You, or should I say your parent and I used to be one person. And I know what you're going to tell me. To tell you the truth I never thought the day would come that we'd be rejoined."

"We're not going to rejoin," Piccolo said with thinly veiled revulsion, "You'll just be a tool I need to power up. The only reason I didn't do so already was because we needed the Dragonballs from time to time."

"But that's….," Popo said aghast but Kami cut him off.

"He's right," Kami said as he looked down for a moment, "The difference between our powers has grown immense without me noticing it. In the face of these new enemies I've become useless."

"Don't say that," Popo said desperately but Kami continued.

"They have defeated Trunks, who easily defeated both Freeza and his father. They even beat Vegeta who was stronger then Trunks. And when Goku overcomes his illness I'm sure he'll suffer a similar fate. As would Belmovekk if he had chosen to take the field against them."

Kami looked up at Piccolo and began to smile.

"At last the time for God and the Arch-Demon has come to become one again."

"You're right," Piccolo said as he clenched his fists, "The world doesn't need some guardian demi-god looking over it right now, it needs me to be strong so I can defeat this enemy."

"I agree," Kami nodded, "I will give you my body."

"Kami-Sama," Popo said horrified, "please, no?"

"Good," Piccolo said, "Let's get this over with then, shall we?"

"However," Kami said sternly, "I need to look things over a bit more."

"What?" Piccolo said in a mixture of surprise and annoyance, "Look things over?"

"Yes," Kami nodded, "I need to see that those three are really going to destroy the world."

"You have got to be kidding me, you old coot!" Piccolo said angry as he pointed over the edge, "In case you didn't notice, we got steamrollered down there! They almost killed…"

"You were the ones who started that fight," Kami said stone faced, "And even so they still didn't try to kill you."

"You've got a lot of nerve saying that," Piccolo said indignant, "You should have heard what Trunks said from the safety of this perch. Because of them the world will be destroyed."

"I also heard that he said that the androids from his future and these ones are different," Kami shrugged.

"So what?" Piccolo argued, "Are you now saying that these androids are cute and that we shouldn't be harming them?"

"No," Kami said as he calmly shook his head, "But if I'm going to make the last decision of my life I want to make sure it's a damn good one."

Before Piccolo could reply something came flying across the edge of the Lookout and landed not far from them. Without looking over his shoulder Piccolo spoke up.

"I told you not to follow me, Faith. Now, say one word and I'll personally kick you off this bowl," he said, then he spoke to Kami again, "Have it your way, coward. We'll play the waiting game until something bad happens. And then you'll have no choice but to agree."

x

* * *

x

In a town in northern Punjab a small crowd had gathered around a car.

"Do these people have nothing better to do?" Buffy asked nervously, still sitting inside the car Xander had bought and almost having to push people out of the car window, "It's like they never seen a westerner or something."

"Maybe it's a cultural thing," Xander said. Normally he took things pretty much in stride, but the crowd of curious onlookers was getting even on his nerves. Normally as a westerner you expect at least some local curiosity, but when these Indians stared at you it was like they knew no shame or something. Like you were an object that had to be studied up closely and intently.

"Then they should do their cultural thing somewhere else," Buffy said as she wished the window on her side could still be closed.

"I think I now understand why all those travellers say that you cannot travel through India," Xander said, "that you can only endure it."

"Then I wish those androids would hurry up so we can endure on," Buffy moaned as she closed her eyes for a while, "Are they still in that shop?"

"I saw nobody leave, do you, Buff?" Xander replied, "Why do all these guys have moustaches? It's like we're stranded on planet of the moustaches. Do you think I would look good having a moustache?"

Buffy looked over at Xander who looked so dead serious it almost made her laugh.

"You're so _not_ a moustache person," Buffy said deadpan, then she began to smile, "why the interest in a 'stache? Feeling the need to look more masculine? Want to grow an evil goatee?"

"Can't a guy just feel the need to look good?" Xander said as he touched his upper lip.

Buffy raised her eyebrows and began to smile from ear to ear.

"And this sudden need to embellish yourself has nothing to do with a certain female android?" she grinned.

"That's absurd! I just want a new look and….," Xander protested, then he fell silent and laid down his head on the steering wheel, causing the car horn, the only really functional part of the car, to go off.

"Oh God," Xander moaned, "I really do need to get laid!"

"Cra…. Angela getting the better of you again?" Buffy asked as she reached out to pat Xander on the shoulder.

"It's not that I don't mind caring for her," Xander sighed as he kept his head on the steering wheel, "It's just that, well, seeing you guys all happy in your relationships and me not being made out of stone, well, you can guess that little Xander is, um…."

"I'm getting the picture," Buffy said as she tried to cheer her friend up. Lately Xander's mood swings had become the stuff of legends. And it all boiled down to one thing. Crazy porno chick. Caring for her sapped the very Xander out of her Xander shaped friend. If only he wouldn't feel so obligated to save himself for her and went out once in a while.

"You know what we should do once we get back?" Buffy said trying to sound cheerful, "Let's go out! You, me, Willow, no boyfriends, no girlfriends. Just the three of us. Like in the old days. And to make you feel good we're gonna go to that place in Oxnard, which has those naked ladies dancing. You remember naked ladies, right? Dancing on those poles with those platform shoes?"

Xander looked at her with one eye.

"Are you suggesting that we're going to a nudie bar, Buff?" he asked curiously.

Without her even knowing it she began to put on a pouting face.

"If you like I'll bring lots of one dollar bills," she said deadpan.

x

* * *

x

Outside of the minivan, on the town square Android #16 looked around as the minivan's car horn finally stopped honking. Which was good as it had scared the monkey away that had been playing in the trees in the town square. Now all he had to entertain himself was the small horde of children that were constantly begging him for money and attention.

But #16 didn't mind. In a way all these kids were like monkeys anyway.

x

* * *

x

Inside the town bazaar #18 was busy looking for clothes to replace the torn clothes that had been damaged in the fight with Vegeta. Various merchants tried to show her their goods and she looked at them all. In a way she was in heaven as she enjoyed herself immensely for the first time since her creation at the hands of that monster, Gero.

#17 on the other hand wasn't as entertained as he followed her with a bored look.

"You know," he finally said, "Gero must be the ultimately failure. He designs 20 different androids to kill Son Goku, 19 of them male, and the one time he does design a female android, she _still_ has the shopping gene inside her."

"Nobody forced you to come along," she said unrepentant as she leaned over to inspect a shop owner's stall, "If you wanted too you could have kept #16 company outside."

#17 raised an eyebrow as he wrapped his arms around him.

"I would if I could," he said, "But as you may have noticed #16's conversational skills leave much to be desired about."

"Then why not stay with our new friends in the car?" she asked as she moved over to another stall, "Those so-called tourists?"

"They do carry a striking resemblance to some of the people we saw inside Gero's lab, don't they?" #17 said as he cupped his chin and pretended to think.

"Then why do we travel with them?" #18 said as she looked at #17, then she began to frown, "Oh, let me guess. It's all a game, right?"

"Of course it's a game," #17 smiled almost excited, "And we're going to play it. But just not by their rules."

"Gero is indeed the ultimate failure," #18 said as she returned her attention to the stalls in the bazaar, "He builds 19 male androids and he still manages to build boys instead of men."

x

* * *

x

Space around Earth may look empty at first glance, but on closer inspection it was far from it. Old junk from the days of the space race, a multitude of satellites ranging from commercial telecommunications to high tech surveillance satellites. It all conspired to make Earth orbit a very crowded space.

But now something else was moving through Earth orbit. Something big. Something that dwarfed man's biggest construction in space, the International Space Station.

It was the USAF Enterprise, former Pride of Amūn and now integral part of the defenses of Earth. A gift from the Saiyan Belmovekk to the SGC and probably the one reason why they still trusted him. A little trust goes a long way and a free battle cruiser buys a lot of trust.

As Belmovekk touched one of the ship's bulkheads he couldn't help as memories came flooding back to him. Of what had happened to him in this ship. But also other memories. Memories that weren't his. Alien memories. Goa'uld memories. So much so that he was surprised that a certain copy of himself in gold clad armor wasn't around to tell him everything about it.

Leaving the ship's bulkhead for what it was Belmovekk turned around and made for the ship's mess hall. The ship, while large on the outside, wasn't so big on the inside. Machinery, store rooms, fighter bays, that and the large number of additional troops on board made it currently very cramped.

Of course Belmovekk had no trouble traversing the cramped corridors, as the soldiers made way for him like he was Moses and they the Red Sea. Which wasn't so surprising as most of the soldiers had received chi training. They hadn't been trained by him personally, that had been a very limited group. But by now those men had trained a lot of others. And while his existence had been kept a secret, a national secret even, there was bound to be some talk. Rumors. Chatter in the Caf. Plus some of the SG-21 members embarked onboard the Prometheus had seen action in Cleveland.

Gossip and rumors were universal constants, no matter which planet, galaxy or universe. Which made it all the more impressive that these Earthers had managed to keep this spaceship a secret.

As Belmovekk made his way past soldiers who looked at him in a mixture of wonder, shock and awe, he entered the ship's mess hall.

Where he found Spike sitting on a chair as he watched Passions intently on the mess hall TV. One of those rare instances of Earth technology being installed on this alien build ship.

"You know, for the starship Enterprise in space they have surprisingly good reception," Spike said as he noticed Belmovekk's entry without looking.

"Do not get used to it, Spike," Belmovekk said as he sat down opposite the vampire, "Any moment Commander Ronson will be ready."

"Then until then I'll keep on watching," Spike shrugged.

Seeing the vampire's point Belmovekk nodded and leaned back into his chair. For a while neither said anything.

"So how are your wounds?" the Saiyan asked, causing Spike to stop watching TV and look at the Saiyan instead.

"You're asking _me_ how I am?" Spike said bewildered, "What died and crawled up your arse?"

"I was just curious," Belmovekk said defensively. To which Spike returned his attention back to the TV. He had watched another ten seconds when he suddenly looked at the Saiyan again.

"Well, if you must know I really hurt all over," Spike said, then he proceeded to give a very extensive and detailed list of every part and muscle of his body that wasn't up to specs. When he was finished he leaned forward.

"But you know what really hurts?" he said dead serious, "The way you and your little family left me and the others to face the music alone. Nothing says trust better then when you're getting beaten to a pulp by two homicidal androids and there's no help coming."

"And your little stunt with Dr. Gero spells trust in what way as well?" Belmovekk countered.

Spike wanted to say something, then he smiled and sat back in his chair.

"Still would have appreciated a head's up," he said as he folded his arms across his chest, then he suddenly grinned from ear to ear, "Do you think I'm now the first vampire in space?"

"Not unless the Goa'uld took some of your ilk away in the past," Belmovekk said after some thinking, "Which could be possible. I have heard that Ra's troops did came into contact with something that could be construed as vampires. They might have captured one or two for examination."

"Too bad," Spike said.

"But you would be the first vampire in living memory to go into space," Belmovekk added, "That would count for something?"

"I suppose," Spike shrugged indifferently, then he resumed watching Passions. After a while Belmovekk turned his head around and watched some as well.

"Why do you watch this drivel?" he asked, "I have seen better theater being performed in the gutters of Tol Honeth."

"Because it helps me escape the boring mind numbing dullness of my existence?" Spike said sounding a tad annoyed, "It amuses me. What's with the Twenty Questions?"

Before Belmovekk could reply the captain of the Enterprise spoke over the intercom.

"Attention, attention, this is your captain speaking. We are now over the target area. All SG teams to the teleportation room."

"Took them long enough," Spike muttered as he got up and used the remote to switch the television off, "They can build a starship that can go warp 10 but it takes them forever to fly us back to Afghanistan?"

"The ship has no cloak," Belmovekk replied, "Moving faster this close to the planet would draw unwanted attention as there tend to be a lot of people who look at the night skies. If anything you should be familiar with that concept. Oh, I forgot, you do not do subtle."

"Ah," Spike sighed contently, "Now that's the Big Scary that I know and hate!"

x

* * *

x

Outside a small domed house amidst a large forest and a mountain backdrop the air began to shimmer. Next thing a vortex began to appear, swirling and swirling in ever greater speed until it went too fast for the human eye. Then a leg emerged from the vortex, followed by the rest of a human body.

"…. do anything foolish he said," Krillin said as he stepped through the portal, soon followed by Trunks, "You're right, no matter how strong Goku has become, he's still no match for them."

"I don't understand it either," Trunks said as he held out an arm that was soon taken as Mayan she came through the portal, "Even if this is an alternate reality or not, what caused it to deviate so much from our history? The androids were never that much stronger then me."

"You think too much," Mayan said as she used Trunk's arm to steady herself, feeling a little disorientated, "It just is. Deal with it."

"Don't you at least want to know?," Trunks said, not annoyed but at least somewhat exasperated. To which Mayan shook her head.

"Why?" she shrugged, "Is it going to change one iota in how we're going to destroy those things?"

Behind them the portal closed after Willow had come through.

"I bet it has something to do with your father," Trunks muttered aggrieved, "From what I hear he's been turning this reality upside down looking for Ge…."

"You leave my father out of it!" Mayan said annoyed, "Unlike yours at least he cares!"

Next thing Mayan stomped off, her tail standing almost upright, a sign of great anger.

"What did I do?" Trunks said flabbergasted to Krillin and Willow.

"Women?" Krillin said equally surprised, then he tried to smile weakly.

"Instead of chewing some more on your foot why don't you two go get Goku," Willow said as she went after Mayan.

"I love that girl dearly," Trunks said as he watched Willow go after Mayan, "But honest to god half of the time she doesn't make any sense. And the other half…. And godforbid if she ever gets her period. Then I'd rather face the androids by myself."

Lacking any real experience with the other sex Krillin wisely choose to keep his mouth shut on the subject.

"Lets get Goku," he finally said.

"Good idea," Trunks said and the two of them walked towards Goku's house. Just a few feet from the door Krillin stopped.

"Trunks?" he said hesitantly, "mind if I ask a question?"

"What?"

"Are the androids really that evil?" Krillin asked the youth from the future.

"They are incredibly evil," Trunks said coldly, "They have to be. They delight in killing us slowly but steadily. It's just a game to them. Why do you ask?"

"N…no reason," Krillin stuttered slightly, "Just thought it would be a great help if they weren't."

"I wouldn't count on it if I were you," Trunks said, his hand on Goku's door handle.

"You're right," Krillin said rapidly, "I shouldn't have thought like that."

But as Trunks stepped inside, Krillin's thoughts continued to go like that. Especially about a certain blonde android.

x

* * *

x

Willow found Mayan sitting by a small stream, looking away into infinity.

"You're just like her," Mayan said without looking back.

"Just like who?" Willow asked curiously.

"Auntie Willow," Mayan sighed wistfully, "my Willow, the Willow of my timeline. Or reality, take your pick."

"What happened to her?" Willow asked, now being really curious, "Is she still alive? Does she date? Is she with a….."

"She died," Mayan said as she looked over her shoulder with a look so sad it almost broke Willow's heart, "She was the last of the Scoobies, you know. Androids killed her."

Hearing that you're dead never helped anyone's mood to improve and Willow was no exception to that. She did recover quickly though.

"Do I want to know how I died?"

"Probably not," Mayan said shaking her head as Willow sat down next to her, "Some things nobody should ever know."

"It might help to, um, avoid a similar fate?" Willow asked. In response Mayan's face began to brighten up a little.

"I don't think it matters anymore," she said, "As you may already have noticed things are going a little different then from what Trunks and me are used too."

"Oh," Willow said. The girl from a possible future raised a good one, "So now I can look forward to a more different way to die gruesomely."

Mayan looked at her again.

"You seem to take it all in stride?" she asked curiously.

"Well, if you live on the Hellmouth you tend to take things as they come," Willow smiled, "You know, world ending apocalypse this evening, film at eleven."

"Yeah, I forgot," Mayan asked curiously, "You grew up on a Hellmouth. Aun…, my Willow, she told me many stories about how much fun they had growing up. But she never told me about the bad things. The demons, the vampires. I had to hear them from…."

"There were bad times," Willow said as she began to reminisce, "We got hurt, bad things happened, friends that are gone."

For a moment Willow halted as she remembered her lost friends. Like Jesse. Poor Jesse who had been one of her best friends. Or Kendra. The tragic young Slayer.

"But there were also a lot of good times," Willow quickly spoke again, "It was like the bad also helped to make the good seem more good. Make love taste more sweet. It made you ride the mellow more."

Mayan began to laugh.

"I had forgotten how funny you could talk," she laughed.

"Uh, thanks, I guess?" Willow said unsure to talk the remark either as a compliment or as a given.

"He drives me crazy," Mayan said suddenly as she stopped laughing.

"Uh, who?" Willow asked, surprised at the sudden mood swing.

"Trunks of course," Mayan said as she put her head on her knees, "Don't get me wrong, I love him dearly, but sometimes I think he doesn't get me at all. Then he goes and says such hurtful things like about my father."

"Oh," Willow said, then she understood that they were finally coming to the problem at heart, "yeah, men can be like that."

As she said it, Willow had to fight down the urge to say 'have you ever thought about women?'

"One moment he's all nice and caring," Mayan continued, "then the other moment he says something stupid that kills the moment."

"Yup, men are like that," Willow echoed.

"Sometimes I wish I could change him," Mayan prattled on, "Don't get me wrong, the sex is great, spectacular even. And when he does that thing that…."

"Sorry, weirdness timeout!" Willow said as she waved her hands between herself and Mayan, "This is were I have to draw the line. Only a few days ago I was holding you in my arms and you were this big. Or should I say that small? And now we're having the sex talk already? Too weird, too fast."

Mayan looked at Willow, then she began to chuckle.

"I keep forgetting you're not her," she said as she stopped laughing, "That you're not my auntie Willow. That you're different."

"I can be her," Willow said quickly, "Well, obviously not her as she was much older then me and I'm only a few years older then you are now, and I'm obviously not that much comfortable having the whole sex talk with you yet, but I'm a good listener, Buffy talks to me, ask her, and I think that if you give me time we can be friends as well and then we can have the whole sex talk if you want too, but just not now, cause I need time to get used to that and…."

"How do you even breathe?" Mayan interjected as she looked at Willow in a mixture of curiosity and for lack of a better word, sadness, "I've forgotten that you could do that."

"Practice?" Willow smiled nervously, "So, friends?"

"I'd like that," Mayan smiled back, then she leaned over and rested her head on Willow's shoulder.

"Okay," Willow said a little hesitant at the sudden show of affection, then she tentatively embraced the girl. Who almost let out a sigh as Willow did the embrace.

"I miss you, auntie Willow," she said softly as she closed her eyes, "I miss you so much."

Not sure what to say, Willow decided to say nothing and just sit there. Sure it was strange. But she was also holding a girl who by all standards of measure was probably deeply traumatized and suffering from heavy post-traumatic stress. If she could give her a moment of peace by playing the part of a lost loved one, then what was the harm in that?

For a while neither said anything, then Willow reached out to caress Mayan's hair with her free hand. As she did the girl almost began to purr with delight.

Oh the girl was traumatized alright.

But as she began to caress the girl thoughts and images began to filter through almost subconsciously and Willow was presented with glimpses of a possible future. And what she saw began to frighten her.

Oh boy, was Buffy going to be in a world of hurt with this one.

x

* * *

x

A Day + 3

x

"Impressive!"

Xander and Buffy stood behind androids #17 and #18 as they all gazed at the Taj Mahal in wonder.

For two days the unlikely fivesome had traveled through Northern India, having their share of small adventures as a certain shopping spree turned sour when it turned out that neither of the androids had any money. Things had almost gotten ugly with the authorities coming after them when Buffy managed to diffuse the situation by pulling out her credit card. The locals may not have spoken their language but they sure did understand the language that was American Express.

After that the next little adventure had been to leave town before every merchant realized that there was a Western tourist in town with a credit card!

As it turned out Buffy's credit card would see heavy action throughout their journey as Xander had exhausted his cash when buying their car and of course, neither of the androids had any money.

And so they had made their way to the city of Agra. As a former Moghul capital it had tons of historic landmarks and the blackhaired Android #17 wanted to see them all. #18 just tagged along, always looking bored while #16 seemed fairly indifferent to anything. But he was easy to please, just put him in a quiet spot where he could observe some small animals and he was a happy camper.

As they traveled with the three androids they began to prove an ever greater enigma to Buffy and Xander. #16 made Oz look chatty by comparison as he hardly ever spoke a word, but like was said previously, the immense android was easy to please and never caused any problems.

#18 also kept to herself, always looking like she was bored. From time to time she protested against yet another one of #17's ideas for a diversion but she always went along with them in the end. She never paid much attention to Xander but after learning that Buffy had a credit card with almost limitless credit at times she seemed at times awfully cuddly with the Slayer. The girl definitely loved to shop to excess!

In a sense #17 was the greatest mystery.

If #16 was the lone assassin with a single task and #18 the submissive lieutenant, #17 loved playing games. He had taken to sitting in the front with Xander and now drove their car most of the time. He and Xander talked a lot about everything and he seemed to delight in picking holes in their cover story. By all intents he seemed totally keyed in to the idea that they were here to keep an eye on them, but he just didn't seemed to care. Treating it all as just another game.

And just when Buffy had him pegged as one big jokester, he would do something completely out of the blue.

When they had come to the Taj Mahal #17 seemed absolutely delighted. He loved every part of it. But what he loved most was standing in the entrance of the garden looking at the mausoleum and the gardens and soak it in visually.

"Impressive," he said in awe, "the mathematical symmetry, it's breathtaking."

"Dude, do you want me to get a camera?" Xander asked, but #17 waved his hand dismissively.

"No thanks," the android replied without taking his eyes away from the Taj Mahal, "I have no need for cameras. I just…, would like to be left alone and be one with this place for a moment."

"Suit yourself," Xander shrugged, then he turned to #18 and Buffy, "Anyone want any drinks? I'm gonna score some sodas."

"No thanks," #18 said shaking her head as she sat down on a nearby bench.

"I'm coming with you," Buffy said, "I want a coke. A real one! If I get one more of those Hindi Cola's I'm going to kill somebody."

"Suit yourself," #18 said as her gaze went on infinity and she looked right past them. Leaving Xander and Buffy to walk to the nearest kiosk selling food and beverages.

"Do you think they're gonna talk about us?" Buffy asked as she looked back over her shoulder at the strange twosome.

"I think they've finished talking about us a long time ago," Xander said as he briefly glanced backwards as well, "I have to admit, for genocidal robots, these are the most fun to be with."

"It's not like the other three had raised the bar that highly," Buffy said, "In fact they haven't raised the bar at all."

"When you're down the only way to go is up," Xander chuckled, then he turned serious, "Buff, do you think your future brother-in-law could be wrong?"

"Future brother-in-law?" Buffy asked puzzled.

"You know," Xander said back, "Big guy from the future, sports a big sword on his back, has this almost identical version of you with black hair and a tail for a girlfriend?"

"Oh God!" Buffy moaned as she facepalmed herself, "Gee thanks for reminding me of that. I had just managed to completely block it from my memory that I have yet again another identical twin trampsing around."

"But this one's different," Xander said with a growing smile, "She's not your twin, she's Mayan's twin."

"Who just happens to look like me," Buffy said wistfully, "oh and Mayan's barely two. I'm sure she won't be scarred for life meeting another self."

"It's freakish though how much she turned out exactly like you," Xander grinned, "Except for the hair and the tail."

"God, I'm not having this conversation again," Buffy moaned, "Not again!"

"To bad Dawn didn't come from the future," Xander mused, "I'd love to see how she would turn out. I used to think the twins were identical, but lately little Dawnie seems to be growing more and more different."

"Which is just as well," Buffy sighed, "Knowing that Mayan will grow up to look just like me is hard enough, imagine them both looking like me."

"Mmmmmm," Xander groaned with a big smile on his face, "Buffylicious."

"You're weird," Buffy said as she gave Xander an odd look.

"I keep hearing that a lot," Xander shrugged as they finally neared a vending stall, "usually from Summers women."

There was one advantage of being one of the greatest tourist attractions of the world Buffy thought as they neared the vending stall, at least here there was a chance of the locals speaking English.

"Two colas," she said as she pointed towards a coca cola bottle in the window. Another advantage was that in a country where a good size of the people couldn't read you could get a long way by just pointing to the goods they put on display. Some money was exchanged and Buffy found herself with two ice cold bottles of coca cola, much to her glee.

"Want one?" she asked Xander before taking a swig. Oooooh, that felt good to taste the real stuff again after having had to live off cheap local knock offs.

"Mmmmm," Buffy moaned in delight, then she looked around and realized something, "It's funny, here we are at one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world and there don't seem to be any tourists. Is it the wrong season?"

"I think this has more to do with it," Xander said as he took the other cola bottle from her, then he pointed to the headlines of a newspaper printed in English.

MORE SUICIDE ATTACKS STRIKE THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. THE US PRESIDENT DEMANDS THAT AFGHANISTAN HANDS OVER BIN LADEN!

Buffy skimmed through the newspaper article, then she looked at Xander.

"That's bad, right? As in not good?"

x

* * *

x

"This is way too much stuff."

With a look of exasperation colonel Jack O'Neill looked through the large hall full of junk that they had accumulated from Dr. Gero's laboratory. By now it had all been taken back to the SGC although Teal'c, the Saiyan, his strange companion and SG-21 had remained on site to recover more if they could find.

To their surprise they found that most of the laboratory had survived intact. Some idiot had clearly blown away most of the mountain (and O'Neill had seen some old satellite photography to prove that there had been more of the mountain then there currently was), but the blast had been aimed away from the main laboratory. So while the damage had been extensive, a lot was still left intact.

And now it was here, all for Sam, Daniel and the other white hats at the base to analyze. Jay us!

Upon his return O'Neill learned more of the worsening situation as more suicide bombers had struck the United States and Europe. Panic and fear were growing rampant. In Europe mosques had been set ablaze and there were some in Congress who were already openly talking about interning certain high risks groups.

But O'Neill didn't need access to the TV to know that the shit was hitting the fan. As they were uncovering things from Gero's lab the Enterprise teleported more troops in. Regular special forces, not assigned to the SGC. Who took off and made for a supposedly secret terrorist base. And while the special forces were on a secret mission a name soon began to be on everybody's lips. The same name was also in the news media once he returned.

Osama Bin Laden was suddenly the buzzword, as was his organization, Al-Qa'ida. In the West people were getting scared shitless of that name, while in the Middle East some were jubilant.

Many things were going on right now, but one thing O'Neill knew for sure, whatever shit was hitting the fan, somehow that bastard Kinsey was trying to get the better of it. With all attention focused on Earth's homegrown terrorists he'd find a way to use it to his advantage and use it to act against the SGC. The fact that the Enterprise was now shuttling special forces hunting for terrorists was already telling it all.

It was really bad that things were unraveling on the home front when they had their hands full out there with Anubis chasing all sorts of nasty Ancient super weapons. Dumbass Ancients leaving all those super weapons lying about the Galaxy! You'd think that a race capable of building weapons nasty enough to destroy planets would clean up after itself once they ascended. Or at the very least not be so criminally negligent as to who was picking up their deadly toys after them.

"Tell me you're making sense of this, major," O'Neill said as he walked towards Sam, who was behind a computer, together with Daniel and some white hat, "Tell me you can fix this so we can go back to kicking Anubis' ass."

"Sorry, colonel," Sam said as she stared intently at her computer screen, but I've not even begun to make sense. I'm not even making sense of what I'm seeing right now."

"Crap!" O'Neill muttered softly.

"If we're seeing anything at all," the base white hat said downcast, "Whatever happened in that case, it fried the computers almost solid. There's nothing but garbage on these hard drives."

"I don't want to hear what you can't do," O'Neill said as he exploded at the white hat, "I wanna hear solutions! Fry 'm, cook 'm, boil 'm for all I care, but learn something from those damn computers!"

"Sir," Sam protested as she came to the technician's defense, but to his credit the white hat wasn't intimidated by the colonel's anger.

"Sir, if you give me shit, it's not my fault I can't do much else with it then flush it," the white hat said defiantly.

"I know, son," O'Neill said as he patted the white hat on the shoulder, "just see if you can find a way to find a nugget or two."

Leaving Sam and the white hat to wrestle with the fried computers Jack then turned to Daniel, who was sitting behind a table full of retrieved documents.

"Please tell me you can make something of these," O'Neill asked Daniel.

"Oh, there's plenty of stuff to make sense off," Daniel said as he looked up from his stack of paper, "Too bad most of it is not technical. Apparently he did most of his designing on the computer."

"If he did most of his designing on the computer, then why did this guy have so much paper?" O'Neill asked as he again noticed the huge stacks of paper on Daniel's desk.

"I don't think he threw out much of anything," Daniel said as he looked one stack of papers over the other, "There's manuals of things here that became outdated even before the VCR. It also appears that the doctor was an amateur poet who liked to dabble in writing bad poetry and haikus. A lot of it dealing with a certain Son Goku. I've only read a few of them and while I'm no psychologist I think it's safe to say that that guy had a serious Son Goku obsession."

"Damn," O'Neill said as he pounded the air in frustration, "We never get a break!"

Sam wasn't the only one who had a white hat helping her, as Daniel had a fellow linguist helping him make sense of the huge stacks of papers. As O'Neill vented his frustrated anger the linguist tugged Daniel and showed him a slip of paper.

"What? Did he found something?" O'Neill asked as Daniel examined the paper.

"He might have," Daniel said without taking his eyes of the slip of paper, "I think it's a letter from one of his androids, reporting back to him."

"Androids writing on paper, what's wrong with that mental picture," O'Neill said as Sam and her white hat joined Daniel as he made sense of what he was reading.

"I think this was written by Android #13," Daniel said as he finally looked up, "And not that long ago. Probably not long after he and the other two set out to find out who was after the doctor."

"Yeah, but what does it say?" O'Neill asked impatiently.

"He reports that installation F is still safe and secure and that project Ultimate is still on track," Daniel said.

"Good God!" Sam gasped as everybody looked at each other in shock, "Do you know what that means? There's another facility out there?"


	11. Interlude 'The Coming of Shadows'

**Interlude:**

' **The Coming of Shadows'**

x

x

AN: _This one was a hard one to write._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 24 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _The doctor finally took off Gohan's casts. And just in time as they were driving him mad. He is his father's son after all. Naturally he ignored all the doctor's warnings and went straight back to training, be it not all out yet. At least he's smart enough to do that. In that sense I guess he's his mother's son._

 _Still, one Gohan still recovering from being in casts for a month and broken limps is still more then a match for one Buffy 'the Slayer' Summers, and her boy wonder, Xander Harris. Hell, one Gohan still in casts was still more then a match for the 'dynamic duo'. Either Belmovekk was a lousy teacher or he didn't bother teaching them much beyond what they needed to deal with vampires and demons._

 _Even though they have failed to impress me with their fighting skills Gohan keeps telling me that they're not that bad, that they just seem to be lacking in strength mostly. But he thinks he can remedy that. But that's not what concerns me. I've been with Goku long enough to know that when push comes to shove these fighters can push themselves to the edge to reach levels of strength not even dreamt of. So I'm not worried about that. No sirree!_

 _What worries me is that the androids managed to kill Belmovekk, Piccolo and Vegeta. Arguably the three strongest persons on this planet. And Belmovekk had been a Super Saiyan. A Half-Saiyan child, a Slayer and a human aren't going to cut it against the androids I'm afraid. Not even if they will train for their entire life. Not only do we need a Super Saiyan, we also need a plan. Because as Belmovekk, Vegeta and Piccolo proved, this will not be won by mere force. We need smarts as well. We need a plan. And we need that plan more then ever!_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 27 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _Oh God! Oh God! What am I supposed to do? The androids hit Sichuan province today and are razing it to the ground. At least that was the last thing General Westgate was able to found out as the Chinese government is keeping things even more under wraps then our own. Chi Chi, what has happened to you? I'm fearing the worst. These androids were created by Gero who hated Goku. He's bound to have known where his hated enemy lived. For the androids to go from Malaysia straight to Sichuan could only mean that…_

 _I don't even want to write…._

 _Oh God! Gohan! What am I going to tell you? That you're an orphan now?_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 1 months, 2 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _They're back!_

 _After almost a month of slaughtering millions across the globe the androids returned to North America. Despite the ring of defenses the army had erected around the cities of Vancouver and Seattle, both cities are burning as the androids engaged in an orgy of slaughter. As usual there was nothing in the news, as there is still no news other then the official government bulletins, but General Westgate told me the grizzling truth._

 _Oh Goku! Why did you have to die?_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 1 months, 22 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _Those so called Scoobies are awesome!_

 _Now I finally understand why Willow always says that they were such a well honed team._

 _Gohan is now at full strength again, having recovered from his injuries and is training and teaching for what seems like days on end. Only pausing to eat and sleep._

 _It was when they were having a dinner break that I finally summoned enough courage to tell Gohan that most likely his mother was now also dead. I've been putting it off for more then a month as I've been using my contacts to learn more. Westgate finally came through for me yesterday and there was no reason for me to delay. Sichuan province has indeed been razed to the ground. And a PLA patrol managed to find Goku's home and…._

 _Suffice to say that when I told him Gohan had a mental breakdown. I almost expected him to take off and fly home. Instead he just cried, saying that he couldn't take it any more. That he wasn't like his father and that he didn't have what it takes to defeat the androids. Before I could do something Buffy and Xander stepped in trying to lift the kid's spirit. And a child he still is. We may think he's Earth's only chance of survival, but underneath that he's still a ten year old boy who misses his mother and father terribly._

 _Thank God Buffy and Xander stepped in and took him apart. And I don't know what they said but Gohan was functional after that. Willow had a chat with Xander after that and she told me that being the Slayer at a young age gave Buffy something with which she could relate to him. Or him to her. Anyway, I don't even want to know, let it be their special little thing. Suffice to say disaster was averted. Of a kind._

 _Whatever they did in their little powwow together also netted us a plan. Of some sorts. This war will not be won by strength alone. We need guile as well. And Buffy and Xander seem to think that teamwork is the key._

 _Despite the Z-fighters being a tight nit gang more often then not they were used to training and fighting separately. Each fighter preparing to fight a duel single handed. Maybe it was because of all the Budokais, or because we never faced an enemy that actually worked together but we got into the wrong kind of habit. And these androids do work together. That's how the managed to defeat us._

 _Working together comes more natural to these Scoobies. They think that the key in defeating these androids is disrupting their teamwork. Separate them and once they are separated apply some divide and conquer. That if only they can keep the androids separated from each other then Gohan might have a chance to kill one of them. Even if it means that they have to let themselves be beaten to a pulp._

 _I can't say that I'm to thrilled about this plan, but unless me and Willow come up with some uber kind of weapon I don't think we have much of an alternative. I just hope we won't run out of time first. Or people._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 3 months, 11 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _I had another meeting with General Westgate today. After a string of defeats The military has become desperate for that new radar system me and Willow have been working on, but whatever we do, we just can't seem to get it to work right. It refuses to track the androids special kind of energies. Whatever Gero came up with to power these abominations, its way more advanced then anything we can think of._

 _They're really desperate. So desperate that Westgate even hinted that the military might take over. Apparently the Pentagon, wherever the hell it currently resides, is losing patience with me._

 _And as far as I'm concerned they can have it! Not only is it driving me nuts, it's also causing me a major pain in the ass dealing with these army types. Westgate's alright, but some of the others make me want to release my inner Saiyan on their asses. Fucking bureaucrats! Managers and bureaucrats will be the death of us all long before the androids will kill the last of us._

 _The only problem in having the army take over is that they would learn what goes on here at Capsule Corp. Not only could we lose our ESP's or personal freedoms, I'd shudder to think what the army would do when they learn of Gohan's existence._

 _Not to mention if they were to learn of the connection between Gero and his androids to Gohan's father. I'm still not sure what would happen. So many people have now lost loved ones to the androids that I wouldn't put it past them to do something stupid._

 _Like take it out on the kid._

 _No, it's best to soldier on, manage those idiots while Willow tries to improve the software. Like everything it's all a question of time. Or people. Whichever runs out first._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 7 months, 14 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _Master Roshi's dead._

 _Gohan asked me to bring Master Roshi here so he could help them with their training. I used my army contacts but General O'Moore was loath to help me. Ever since Westgate got transferred out his replacement has been more of a hindrance then a help. I had to convince him that Roshi was one of the foremost computer programming experts. One who was such a geek that he lived in self-imposed exile on some island near the Hawaiian islands._

 _Funny how people continue to believe in such outlandish pop culture stereotypes._

 _The Navy came upon his small island and found his house in ruins. And according to them it had been in ruins for quite some time. It had probably been hit by the androids in the beginning. Clearly they knew where to look._

 _So I've taken a look at the map. Goku's place, destroyed. Roshi's place, destroyed. That village near the arctic where Android #8 lived, destroyed. In fact many places that were tied to us have been hit by the androids._

 _So it begs the question. If they knew where Goku lived, and Master Roshi, which wasn't public knowledge, or all the other places, then why are the only two places they've not hit so far San Francisco and Kami's Lookout?_

 _It's not like we weren't in the Yellow Pages or something._

 _Why aren't they attacking us?_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 7 months, 18 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(From the diary of Bulma Briefs)

 _Gohan just returned from a visit to Kami's Lookout._

 _I had told him earlier of the pattern I had discerned about the androids attacking places tied to us and despite my objections he decided to fly away and check the Lookout. Today he returned and despite that Mr. Popo had disappeared and the place was deserted there was no sign anywhere of damage by the androids._

 _It was to be expected though. When Piccolo died, so did Kami and with no sign of a successor ever to come there was no sign of the Lookout's caretaker. At least that was what I chose to believe, not without any sign of a struggle._

 _Karin was also gone._

 _The small cat had left a message though, stating that this dimension had gotten a little too hot for under his furry feet and that he and Yajirobe had left for greener pastures._

 _That little shit!_

 _In his defense he did leave us a bag full of Senzus._

 _Thank God for little favors!_

 _We need them alright. I just heard from General O'Moore. According to the most current estimates they reckon that more then a billion people have been killed since the coming of the androids._

 _I think I keep this little bit of information to myself. Gohan and the others already have enough burdens on their shoulders. No need for them to know that at the current rate that when they are finally ready to take on the androids the human race will be extinct._


	12. Chapter Six

**Chapter 6**

' **Climbing Up the Walls'**

x

x

AN: _Pff, this was the first chapter I wrote in a looooong time. Lots of real life stuff happened. But it was good stuff and since I'm posting this months later you guys won't even notice that I was gone. All things considering it came together pretty fast whenever I had the time to write._

x

* * *

x

A Day + 4

x

"He's really got every channel," Krillin said in amazement as he used the TV's remote control to flip channels. Sitting next to him on the couch Yamcha let out a small snort.

"Waddaya expect," Yamcha said, "It's Sunnydale. Where even vampires and demons get free cable."

"Yeah, but we're like, who knows, how deep underground?" Krillin countered, to which Yamcha shrugged.

"It's Sunnydale," he said flatly, "place built by some crazy demon wannabe mayor. Remember the guy? Here, nothing surprises me any more. If anything the demons here probably got cable before the humans did."

"I suppose," Krillin said as he turned the TV off. It was Angel's old TV in the hideout that he used after he had returned from Hell and only Buffy had known of his return. Deep underground underneath the Hellmouth they had kept Goku safe these past days. It was probably the safest place from the Androids that they knew of. Barring taking him off the planet.

Unfortunately there wasn't much to do this deep underground. There was a training dojo in an adjacent cavern, in which Trunks and his girlfriend where currently keeping themselves occupied. But after three years of constant training a man could only stand so much training a day before the walls closed in on him. In that sense at least TV provided a welcome distraction.

Too bad it wasn't really distracting much.

The large disasters, the massacres, the android atrocities as predicted by Trunks all failed to materialize. Wherever the strange threesome was, they continued to cloud themselves in mystery. For that at least Krillin was very thankful.

Or not.

Because having all this spare time also led to a lot of soul searching and thinking about a certain blonde android. He still felt confused by her kiss. What did it mean? And why was he thinking so much about her? These were all very confusing questions. And confusion was the last thing a fighter needed before going into battle.

Part of him almost wished the news showed him one deadly attack after the other. Because then it would be easy to ignore those confusing questions and just replace it with steel resolve to finish the job.

Or hate.

Instead the only thing that dominated the news were ever more of those stupid suicide bombings. Curse that Gero for giving some of his technology to those terrorists. The whole world seemed to be in the grips of a major panic, which in no small way contributed to making things worse for them to deal with those androids when they finally would show up. It was hard enough keeping their fights from unnoticed, let alone with the whole world in the grip of a suicide bomber scare.

"Hey," Yamcha protested as Krillin turned off the TV and tossed away the remote, "I was watching that."

"I'm fed up with the news," Krillin said as he got up, "I'm fed up with TV. I'm going to check up with Goku."

"Suit yourself," Yamcha said as he reached for the remote and switched the TV back on, "but he's not going to be any different then he was 15 minutes ago."

"Then I'll go and spar with Trunks and Mayan," Krillin said as he walked away, "Anything but watch that stupid news!"

Suit yourself again, bro," Yamcha shrugged, "But make sure you knock first. Yesterday I almost walked in on them having some."

"Some what?" Krillin asked as he halted and glanced over his shoulder.

"Nothing you're familiar with," Yamcha grinned impishly at the little fighter, "You know, the basic stuff. When a boy meets a girl and they love each other they occasionally like to express that love in a…."

"I get it!" Krillin said annoyed and walked away, "Just because I don't have a girlfriend doesn't mean that I'm stupid!"

"There's hope for you yet, young padawan," Yamcha called after him, "Be sure to be back in 15 minutes. Passion's going to be on then."

"Stupid soap series," Krillin muttered softly as he left the room with the TV and went for the one that had Goku. As he did he passed another room where Gohan was seated behind a large stack of books. Pausing Krillin looked at his little buddy and felt a wave of pity come over him. He liked Gohan, especially after their adventures on planet Namek, which had created a friendship for life. And created certain fatherly feelings for the kid.

Poor Gohan. You may have one father and two surrogate fathers, and some wacky uncles, but all of us combined are no match for your mother and her ambitious schemes to make him a scholar. Why was it so much to ask for to let you be both?

No child should be forced to renounce one half of his or her legacy, Krillin thought. And as he did he felt a certain rebellious streak take hold of him. Sure, there was going to be hell to pay later on, but for Kami's sake, no child should be forced to not be a child. Be it forced to defend the planet vs. forced to do inhuman amounts of homework.

"Hey Gohan," Krillin said as he announced his presence, "wanna go out for an ice cream?"

Gohan looked up from his homework and smiled eagerly, then his smile faded as he glanced at the stack of books in front of him.

"I know," Krillin smiled, "but all work and no play is no good for anyone. And think of it not as just sneaking away to get a delicious treat, but more of a chance to put some of your study to work and practice your English. You know what they say, there's no substitute for the real thing."

Either Gohan was as sick of being cooped up as he was, or he was a rebel at heart, because Gohan hopped of his chair in no time and the two of them made for the surface. As they did Krillin already began to think of excuses to Chichi and convince himself that in the end it would be worth it.

x

* * *

x

Unfortunately for both Krillin and Gohan they barely made it into the underground tunnel system when they bumped into Belmovekk and his tame cyborg vampire.

"Belmovekk," Krillin exclaimed, "I didn't expect to see you here. Do you…. The androids, do you know what's going on?"

"I know where they are," the Saiyan said confidently, "Come, we have much to discuss."

Moving deftly past Krillin and Gohan Belmovekk moved on towards the cave that the two had just left.

"I guess this means there's no ice cream?" Gohan asked.

"Maybe its for the best anyway," Krillin sighed as he turned around, "I'm running out of good excuses to think for your mother."

x

* * *

x

"Here is the situation," Belmovekk said as he stood in front of a table with a map of the world on it. Trunks, Mayan, Chichi, Yamcha and Krillin with Gohan sitting on his shoulders stood around the table all looking at the Saiyan and his map. Meanwhile the vampire Spike was too busy watching television.

"The androids, together with Buffy and Xander are in Eastern India, northwest of the city of Kolkata," Belmovekk said as he pointed to the corresponding position on the map, "They are still moving towards Goku's home in Sichuan province. But at the current rate we still have several days until they get there."

"What happens when they reach our home and find it empty?" Chichi asked worried.

"Up to now it seems to be a game to them," Belmovekk replied, "what happens after that is anyone's guess."

"They're going to go berserk," Trunks said adamantly, "That's when they'll drop this friendly face attitude and reveal themselves for the animals that they are."

Everybody looked at Trunks' outburst for a moment, then Mayan spoke up.

"Trunks, hun, remember what we talked about?"

Trunks looked at Mayan, wanted to say something, then he bit his tongue and looked away.

"Despite their unfamiliar behavior he might be right though," Mayan said to the others, "We should take that into account."

"I know," Belmovekk nodded briefly, "Believe me, Mayan, I do take that into account."

"Why are they going so slow?" Yamcha said looking at the map, "I could have flown from Afghanistan to Goku's in no time."

"They seem to be sight seeing," Belmovekk shrugged, "Visiting all sorts of places of interest along the way."

"That's odd," Krillin said.

"You wanna hear something really funny?" Spike called from the other room, "Everywhere they go to, every place they visit, the Big Scary's paying for it all. They're charging everything to his credit card account."

"Is that true?" Trunks asked softly, "Do you not only know where they are, but actually pay for it as well?"

"Yes," Belmovekk said a little ashamed, "Even though the androids seem to refrain from killing people, they do interact with them. Xander made a judgment call that it was better to use the credit cards I gave them rather then have them steal stuff and risk riling up the locals."

"I don't believe it," Trunks said as he reached for a chair to steady himself on.

"Easy, hunk," Mayan said to her lover.

"I think its neat," Yamcha remarked as he folded his arms across his chest, "the androids aren't causing any problems, Goku gets time to get better. And its not costing us anything but some of his money."

"That is until they finally get to Goku's place," Mayan countered, "All bets could be off by then."

"One day at a time works fine by me," Yamcha smiled back.

As Yamcha and Mayan began to argue Krillin looked at the Saiyan. There was something else, it had to be. He still looked way too worried. Like something else was going on as well. And he didn't think the Saiyan was that much worried about the current suicide bomber epidemic.

"There's something else, isn't there," he asked Belmovekk, "Something else you know."

Belmovekk looked at Krillin for a moment, then he closed his eyes.

"You are right, Krillin," he said, "When the SGC examined the remains of Gero's laboratory they found documents."

"What kind of documents?" Mayan asked, to which Belmovekk didn't immediately reply, instead he put both hands on the table and stared intently at the map for a moment before replying.

"There is another laboratory."

As everybody looked at each other Mayan pressed the issue.

"What do you mean, another laboratory?" she asked, "As in another laboratory from Gero?"

"You are right," Belmovekk nodded softly, "the documents the SGC unearthed mention something called installation F and something called project Ultimate. That it was still on track. And that is all they managed to unearth."

"More androids?" Trunks said aghast, then he sat down on the chair that he was leaning on.

"Oh god!" Yamcha said as he put both hands together in front of his face. Not good. Not good."

"I don't understand," Mayan said shaken as well, "there was nothing like that in our future. They unearthed Gero's Afghan laboratory and searched it from head to toe. They found nothing mentioning anything regarding another laboratory or some other secret project that madman was working on.

"It doesn't mean there isn't any," Gohan said, speaking up for the first time, "Maybe its just sitting there somewhere, doing nothing."

"Not with our luck, Sensei," Mayan said, then she looked up towards Gohan, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's just that I'm so used to calling you that in our future. I keep forgetting you're not him. Or are, but will be. But just not yet. I…."

"Time travel's a bitch, ain't it?" Spike called out from the other room.

"Wow, this is a lot to take in, Krillin said as he looked around the table, at everyone's faces only to settle at that of the Saiyan, "So you think this project Ultimate is the great danger you've been waiting for?"

"I do not know, it could be." Belmovekk sighed after a moment, then he looked at Mayan and Trunks, "but if it also did exist in their reality it will not manifest itself for at least 17 years. Otherwise they would have known about it as well."

"That's a big if considering all the changes we've come to experience so far," Mayan said, "For all you know it happens tomorrow."

Belmovekk looked so intently at Mayan that she almost began to flinch. Before she did however he looked down at the map again.

"Time will tell," he said sullen, "Time will tell."

"So what are we going to do?" Krillin asked, to which Yamcha replied.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, "If time will tell it usually means we wait and see."

"I hate wait and see," Krillin muttered softly.

"Better then dead and buried," Yamcha shrugged indifferent.

"Well, if we're gonna wait and see then I guess this is the end of this meeting," Mayan said, "Me and Trunks are going back to our room. Or should I say cave."

She was about to turn around when Belmovekk spoke up.

"Not quite."

x

* * *

x

"What was I thinking," Mayan muttered nervously.

"Obviously you weren't thinking," Trunks replied as he positioned himself beside her, "But I guess you didn't have much options to begin with."

"I can't do this," Mayan said as she shook her head from left to right, "I mean what am I supposed to do?"

"I suppose you could step forward and ring the doorbell?" Trunks said as he began to smirk. Causing Mayan to shoot him a death glare.

"Ha ha! Very funny Trunks Briefs," she said cross, "No sex for you for a week!"

"Aw, come on," Trunks protested as his smirk was wiped off his face, "there's nothing to do down there."

"Then you can watch TV with the other losers," Mayan said, then she stuck his tongue out towards him.

Her good spirits were short lived as she looked at the house in front of them. 1630 Revello Drive.

"I don't want to do this," she said nervously again, "I can't meet my mother again. She's been dead for years."

"Well, you did say this was an alternate reality," Trunks said somewhat smart-alecky, "So technically she's not yo… OOOOOH!"

Before he could finish his sentence he received a painful elbow to his ribs.

"Women are crazy," he muttered softly as he rubbed his side.

"Don't tell you didn't feel elated when you met your long dead father," Mayan said somewhat angry, "Look how much of an ass you became when he didn't live up to your fantasy."

"That was no fantasy!" Trunks countered defensively, "I know my father wasn't a saint. My mother told me everything. Warts and all."

"I know what your mother told you," Mayan replied, "I was there, remember? We grew up together. And yes, your mother did say he was an ass, she also got that dreamy look over her every time she talked about him. She misses him. And probably without thinking she made him a little less of an ass and a little more of a saint when in reality he's all the other way around."

"You don't have to tell me," Trunks said as he looked away, "No need to rub it in."

"What if meeting my mom is like you meeting your dad?" Mayan said softly as she stared at 1630 Revello Drive. Meeting Bu…., meeting my sister was bad enough already. I know so little about her."

Trunks didn't immediately reply. Instead he moved behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Then consider yourself lucky," he said as he gently squeezed her shoulders, "When I met my father he failed to live up to my idealized image. She on the other hand can only fill in the blanks for you."

Mayan looked over her shoulders and smiled.

"I love you Trunks Briefs," she smiled.

"Same here, Mayan," Trunks smiled back, then he gently nudged her towards the front door, "Let's go have dinner with your parents, shall we?"

"I'm afraid," she said as she let herself be led by Trunks.

"That's okay," Trunks said as they walked onto the porch and halted in front of the front door, "You wouldn't be half human if you weren't."

Then he reached for her arm, raised it and aimed it for the doorbell.

"Conquer your fears and they shall have no more hold over you," he said as her hand was just inches away from the doorbell. He had guided her this far. The rest was up to her.

So, taking a deep breath, Mayan Summers Movekk took a deep breath, swallowed and closed her eyes. A thousand possible scenarios went through her mind, ranging from the awkward to the truly bizarre. She could still leave. They could still return to the cave where the others were. She didn't have to do this.

Then, when still in the grip of her thoughts she suddenly heard the doorbell go off, followed by Trunks' encouraging voice.

"Well done."

x

* * *

x

Overall things had gone well, Trunks thought as he sat alone in the Summers' home living room. They had just finished dinner, which was nice in itself. There was so little opportunity in the future to have a full course dinner in their time. The rationing made it hard to have such an extensive meal. Nor was there much desire to indulge in such things when the fate of the world rested on your shoulders.

It had been hard for Mayan to meet her long lost mother and sister. Well, he could relate to that somewhat. He too had a long lost parent. But where he idealized his lost father, Mayan preferred to forget that she ever had any family to begin with. She never asked anyone to tell her about her dead mother and sisters after Aunt Willow had died. If she ever talked about her family, only her older sister was ever mentioned.

In the denial that is.

It was the one thing where he felt he couldn't relate with her, as he loved to hear anything, even the bad stuff, about his father. He had tried to talk about it with her when they were younger and this was always where she drew the line and left. So after a while he accepted that and let her be. Their future was gruesome enough and if that was what kept her going, then so be it.

It was ironic though that he knew more about her family then she did. At least when Aunt Willow was still alive he had asked about her family and she had told him all that she knew.

Belmovekk the Saiyan sorcerer was more or less like Aunt Willow had described him. Be it less of the eccentric then Aunt Willow had made him out to be. Of course in their timeline nobody had taken him serious until it was too late. And while he had loved Mayan's mother, his quest had taken him more away from home then this Belmovekk had. This one had been taken serious. And while he had spent a lot of time looking for the androids he had also been more of a family man.

He had also trained Mayan's sister Buffy way more then he had done in their timeline. The Buffy he could remember had been a chi fighter of relative minor power. Barely trained beyond the essentials as the Saiyan roamed the planet looking for his supposed danger. This one was strong enough to defeat Android Gero himself in battle. It indicated that this Belmovekk was way more focused on protecting his family, that he had gone out of his way to make sure his family would be protected. It also drove home how much it made his own father look like a douche by comparison.

It made him feel jealous just thinking about it.

Throughout the meal the Saiyan kept to himself as he watched, but not interfered. Keeping a weary eye to make sure things unfolded well. As it should be. If only…. No, no good ever came from wishing for things that weren't going to be. This Vegeta, no, both Vegeta's, past and present, were giant douches. Only his Vegeta was too long gone to prove that to him.

Mayan's mother was a warm welcoming woman who reminded him of his own mother, sans the extreme mood swings. She didn't impose herself onto Mayan, instead letting Mayan get accustomed to the awkward situation. In a way it was strange, Trunks thought as his eyes fell on a picture of Mayan's older sister, only with a strange scar on her lip that he didn't remember seeing on her a few days ago, it was almost like she had experience meeting her own children from the future and easing them into this weird situation.

Mayan still kept herself reserved from this woman she hardly knew nor remembered. Nor wanted to remember. She kept herself together well until something happened.

She met her younger self. And her other sister.

He had known she had had a twin sister, and Aunt Willow had told him that they had shared an extraordinary bond while the other one had been alive. Something that was unlike most human twins. And yet if it weren't for Aunt Willow he would never have known about her lost twin sister at all.

It was when dinner was almost over that suddenly the two twins came running downstairs and mobbed Mayan. Feigning that they couldn't sleep the twins entered the dining room and moved straight towards Mayan, embracing her like she was some long lost part of a triplet. Nothing was said. Aloud at least, but it was clear to Trunks that something was going on. And then Mayan broke down and began to cry.

Seeing her cry brought out the protective streak in Trunks and he wanted to step in when the Saiyan grabbed him and told him to let them have their moment. And then he put Trunks in his present place in the living room.

Unable to comfort Mayan and with nothing to do but wait Trunks could do nothing but sit there and be bored out of his skull. Eventually he switched on the television and watched as more news of suicide bombings soured his mood. Settling on a mediocre comedy he watched time go by when suddenly Belmovekk entered the living room carrying two bottles.

"Come," he said as he handed Trunks a bottle of beer, then beckoned him to come. Stepping outside on the front porch the Saiyan gestured towards a couch on a swing to sit on.

"We must talk," the Saiyan said as he opened his own bottle, a mineral water.

"Is she alright?" Trunks asked as he looked behind them where somewhere Mayan still was, "What about Ma…."

"My daughter will be fine," the Saiyan said as he said down, then patted on a cushion beside him, "sit."

It almost sounded like a command. And years of being trained by Gohan and following orders to the letter kicked in as Trunks sat down.

"You must understand the unique psychic nature that my twins share," Belmovekk said before taking a swig, "They feel each other almost without thinking. And somehow Mayan is still attuned to that bond. They made for her without thinking because to them she is the other sister. And when one is in distress, the other comes without thinking. They sensed that Mayan was, shall we say, uncomfortable."

"I see," Trunks said as he took a swig from his own bottle, "I was an only child myself. And Mayan, she never talked about her family and…."

"I understand," the Saiyan nodded, "It is in the Saiyan nature to repress that which can't be helped. It could cloud our judgment when we need a clear head. We honor the fallen who have died a heroes death. But those who do not die a heroes death we….., well, its better to not dwell upon that which cannot be helped. She must have inherited that trait from me. The other me."

"This is all so…. confusing?" Trunks said, to which the Saiyan nodded in agreement.

"That it is," he echoed.

"So what happens now?" Trunks asked.

"Joyce will take care of it," Belmovekk said as he stared ahead across the street, "She is the caregiver, she is well versed in the affairs of the heart. Our presence at this time will only complicate matters."

"I should be with her," Trunks said as he slowly shook his head.

"I know you feel that way," the Saiyan replied, then he looked at the young man, "After all, you two are lovers, are you not?"

Trunks wanted to say something, then he changed his mind.

"Is this the part where I have to explain my intentions to you?" he asked deadpan, "Cause let me tell you, you're not her father. Her father died long ago. And we had to grow up together. And pretty fast, or else. She loves me and I love her with everything in my heart. I'd die for her. So who are you to judge me….."

"Relax, young Trunks," Belmovekk said as he cut the young man's tirade off, "I am not here to pass judgment on you. Or claim ownership of her through blood. I will say this, I do consider her my daughter, so does Joyce. But we both know from bitter experience that we cannot force such a bond. If Mayan desires a relation with us it will be on her terms. Until then the both of you will always be welcome in our house if you should chose to. And if not, we will have peace with that as well."

"Damn straight," Trunks said, more to himself then to the Saiyan next to him.

For a moment neither man said anything until Belmovekk broke the silence.

"I must confess I have an interest in learning more about the young man who has a relationship with my daughter," he said with a slight smile.

Trunks looked at the Saiyan for a moment, then he began to smile as well.

"I knew that I was in for a grilling," he said grinning, "I knew it the moment I stepped through that door over there."

"Guilty as charged," the Saiyan smiled back.

x

* * *

x

This couldn't be!

The insolence!

The humiliation!

Standing on top of a large deserted rock plateau, somewhere in the Caucasus mountains Vegeta stared at his balled fists.

These past days had gone by in a daze. Hell he couldn't even remember them. The only thing that constantly flashed through his mind was how that wind up doll had beaten him and left him behind like he didn't even matter.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With a loud yell Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan, a shockwave of pure golden chi erupting around him and shattering the rock plateau.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

As he let his frustrations flow from him in destructive energy Vegeta felt his immediate rage dissipate. As the anger flowed from his dust began to rise from the rubble underneath as he hovered over the destroyed plateau.

"How could this be?" he said through gritted teeth as he re-examined the past events, "I am a Super Saiyan? Am I not supposed to be invincible?"

Rage began to build up in him again.

"Why did I allow myself to be beaten? Why did I allow it happen?"

There was no reply as only silence followed upon the collapse of the rock plateau.

"I am the Prince of all Saiyans," Vegeta raged, "of the purest Elite stock. When I ascend to Super Saiyan by all rights I should be the strongest person in the universe!"

Again there was no reply.

Then Vegeta began to calm down as he unclenched his fists and cupped his chin.

"Was it because I fought something artificial? Something technical?" he mused aloud, "Have I reached the limit of the Saiyan condition?"

For a moment Vegeta pondered the possible truth that while he might be the strongest being alive in the universe, he was now up against the almost limitless advances of technology. Something for which evolution could never hope to be prepared for.

But then he rejected that course of thought.

"No," he said as he shook his head and clenched his fists again, "This cannot be right! I am Vegeta! I won't let this happen! No matter how strong my opponent is, I _will_ find a way to surpass him!"

He then began to smirk a malicious grin.

"Oh, I will find a way to surpass those wind up dolls," Vegeta smirked, "And once I do and finish them off, then I will come for you, Kakarot! Then it will be _your_ turn."

x

* * *

x

Eating didn't seem to come natural to these androids, Buffy thought as she observed them handling some local late night fast food. After an epic road trip, one for the books, they had arrived in the city of Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta. Since it was so late and because it had been a long drive to get here Xander had insisted that they get something to eat first.

Eating in India was also an adventure in itself. It not only required an iron constitution because it wasn't always very hygienic, it also required a stomach clad with asbestos. And while being the Slayer helped with not getting the hundred different kinds of stomach flu she should be getting, it didn't help her with getting used to the hundred different kinds of spices these Indians used to build bonfires in each others' stomachs.

She could understand spicy chicken, even though from now she would never think of spicy chicken back home as anything but spicy. But spicy milk? Spicy fruit? Spicy candy? It honestly seemed like these Indians used peppers just for the hell of it. Like they were addicted to it, like it was crack-cocaine to them and the whole nation was addicted.

It also seemed like every town or city was trying to out-spice the other ones by upping the ante in some bizarre chilli pepper war. You'd think that by now she would be used to it. Only to be even more unpleasantly surprised with every meal. Their current meal was no exception. At least it was food. She hoped. You never quite knew with these people.

Xander seemed totally unaffected by the local cuisine. Claiming to have build up an immunity thanks to his travels in Tanjecterly Xander could chow down anything with an impunity that was Buffy's envy. So she amused herself by watching the androids eat instead.

They had infinite energy reactors, that's what Future Dork claimed. Spike had something similar. Something called naqua-something. It was so cutting edge it made the clever boffins and Willow drool with excitement. Frankly, Buffy couldn't care less, all she needed to know was upper strength limit. But that was not the issue right now. Despite having one of those reactors Spike still had to eat. These androids didn't.

Whatever it was that Spike's reactor did, it only seemed to contribute to his combat strength. Whereas these androids could go on indefinitely without eating. Only eating because they had to put up a show. Well, only the Gruesome Twosome. Tall, Broodsome and Ginger didn't even bother to keep up any appearances and eat. He just sat or stood there as they ate while he entertained himself with the local wildlife. Or by watching them when there wasn't any. He wasn't much fun but he seemed to have plenty himself and so far didn't seem to have an evil byte inside him.

Of the Gruesome Twosome Blondie only barely ate anything, the minimal only to keep the charade up and even then only reluctantly. It was worth braving the chillies just to see that.

Johnnie Depp on the other hand rather seemed to enjoy eating his food. Not much, because he obviously didn't need it. But to him it seemed like every meal was an adventure in itself. Like he wanted to be surprised, experience new things. New tastes, sounds, sights. Nothing was mundane enough for him, nothing too ordinary for him not to experience. She actually believed the guy braved the Indian toilets just for the hell of it.

In that respect Kolkata offered him everything he wanted. The toilets were more messy, the streets more grimy and there were more people then Buffy ever cared to meet. It was the biggest city they've come through with a population the size of LA. And like LA it was a jungle in itself. Even worse because there was so much poverty difference here. People were being preyed upon here, and not just by fellow humans.

Since coming to this city she had felt at least half a dozen tingles from her Spidey- sense that something was out there which shouldn't. In fact her inner Slayer sense was itching to go patrolling and see what the hell was out there.

She managed to ignore it so far because she had to focus on the big picture. That whatever was here, was here long before she did and would still be here long after she was gone, that the place wasn't build on a Hellmouth (she hoped), and that she couldn't be expected to fix everything in this world, not by herself that is.

At least that was what she told herself. It didn't seem to satisfy the inner Slayer though.

So it was when she was watching the androids eat that her Spidey senses began to tingle again. And pretty heftily too.

Feeling that such a strong sense couldn't be ignored she looked at Xander. At this point in their working relationship they no longer needed words to communicate. A look, a single gesture was enough.

That is, if he was paying attention. Which at the moment he didn't seem to be doing much as he was too busy telling one of his stories to impress Blondie. Probably one of his road trip adventures. Or something from Tanjecterly with the alien parts edited out.

She hoped!

Winking like crazy she tried to draw his attention but to no avail as Xander stayed engrossed in his own story. In the end she had to move to him and gently nudge his him in the ribs.

"I have to go," she whispered softly.

"Go where?" Xander asked like he was the Sunnydale High goofball again.

"Do stuff," Buffy whispered with growing displeasure.

"What stuff?" he actually had the galls to say. God, it was like his IQ dropped the further he got away from Sunnydale or something.

"Slayer stuff," she whispered with thinly veiled annoyance.

"What ki…. oh," he said as he finally got it, "What, now?"

"Yes now," she whispered exasperated, "Evil never sleeps, remember? Not even in the middle of the end of the world."

"You want me to keep them busy?" Xander whispered back.

"You think?" she whispered sarcastically. So much for finely honed team.

She was about to leave when Johnnie Depp spoke up.

"Going somewhere?" he said in that smug flat tone of voice of his.

"I have to take care of, um, some women's things," she said, "I saw a public toilet a couple of streets ago."

It was obvious he didn't believe any of it.

"Want me to come along?" he asked smiling, "After all, these Indians can be… obtrusive?"

Yeah right!

"I'll be fine," she replied using one of her fakest Californian cheerleader smiles, "I do know how to take care of myself."

"I do not doubt it for one second, Anne," Johnnie Depp said, for once sounding sincere, then he turned around and began to re-examine the food stall they had been eating from, "I wonder how that tastes."

Leaving the others she made her way through the crowded street, towards where her Spidey senses were still going haywire. If only she could have used flight, instead of having to plod through these unwashed masses. If only….

She almost passed the alley, only in the nick of time noticing the tug of her Spidey senses. Stepping inside she took advantage of the absence of a large crowd and ran past the occasional Indian, or the odd homeless lying in a gutter until she came upon another side alley.

To her surprise she saw a group of male vampires, dressed in women's clothing and wearing women's make up, gathered around the body of a teenage Indian girl. The vampires had vamped out but their female make up made them look even grotesque.

"Did I just take a wrong turn and walk into the Rocky Horror Picture Show?" Buffy asked, then she started to point around, "Oh, and whoever gave you guys makeup advice, eye shadow is so porno chic."

The vampires looked annoyed for being interrupted, but didn't seem to have understood a word she had said.

"Ow, common!" she said annoyed, "I know my puns are rusty but my keen sense of fashion ain't. Yours is though."

This time the vampires didn't stand there and look annoyed, instead they attacked.

Because she had to keep a low profile and, well, because it was more fun this way Buffy chose to use only minimal strength. After all, you try sitting a rickety minivan with the Gruesome Twosome and Tall, Broodsome and Ginger, driving through India. A girl needed some way to let off steam after that.

As the first vampire lunged towards her full force she ducked and dropped to the side alley's floor. As the vampire in drag sailed over her she grabbed a broken pallet board and ripped off a strip of wood.

Before the first vampire in drag was able to smash into some garbage Buffy used the strip of wood as an ad hoc stake to stake the next one. Swinging around she threw her makeshift stake at the first vampire and it dusted with a horrible scream.

That left only six.

They now all attacked her at once. Now that they knew she was not some ditzy tourist blonde in the wrong place they went all medieval on her shapely behind. They even used some form of martial arts on her that she didn't quite recognize, but which she thought was local. Reminiscent to the more aggressive Saiyan martial arts styles. It wasn't fancy, but it got the job done.

That is, if she wasn't so well trained to the point of absurdity. Using the full array of both Saiyan and Earth martial arts techniques she analyzed their techniques while she defended herself and came to the conclusion that even if she wasn't the Slayer she could have still defeated them using skill alone.

That was also a dangerous mindset though. Because using fancy skilled moves also meant more chances to make costly mistakes. That was one point Spike always liked to hammer down whenever they sparred.

Still, she couldn't resist using a few fancy moves, if only to even the odds for a moment. Cause even six fighters using simple to the point tactics attacking a single fighter made more mistakes because they got in each other's way. And with the right fancy move….

Exploiting just that flaw in their attack plan Buffy used momentum to throw one vampire in drag against a wall with so much force he fell unconscious to the alley's floor. But before he even hit the floor Buffy grabbed another and threw him onto the broken pallet board, where he came to a very uncomfortable stop against a upstanding piece of wood.

As he dusted with a ghastly pang that left only four vampires. Two more soon followed. But as the number of vampires lessened the inverse ninja law kicked in and the remaining vampires became harder and harder to dispose off. That is not without taking more time, which she didn't have being on a road trip with three androids. And not without cheating and raising her chi.

Sensing that there was no avoiding it she raised her chi a little above her old Slayer level. Feeling the additional power coarse through her she grabbed one vampire by the arm and ripped his arm off. As the vampire screamed horrified at the remains of his arm she turned around and delivered a spinning kick to the other vampire, hitting his neck with the top side of her foot with so much force that it tore his head clean off.

As another vamp hit the dust she turned to the armless vampire.

"Told you porno chic wouldn't do you no good," she said deadpan, then she slammed her hand through his chest. Too late she remembered why this wasn't a good move as he disintegrated around her arm and dust enveloped her, causing her to cough.

"I really need to get back to patrolling regularly," she coughed, "If I did I would have remem…"

She stopped mid-sentence as she felt another presence approach.

Something old.

Something malicious.

From the darkness of the alley another vampire stepped into the dim light. He was also in women's clothes, but he lacked most of the bad make up job the other vampires had. In fact, he didn't wear any make up at all.

Nor would it do him any good as his face was twisted in a vile demonic grin and his feet cloven like hoofs.

By all accounts he was a master vampire.

A very old one. Like the Master.

Or Kakistos.

Using clawed hands he slowly applauded, then he spoke in English, be it more old fashioned English, and with a heavy Indian accent.

"Long has it been since I met a Slayer," he said as he stopped clapping, "I always expected thee to be of proper Indian heritage, never one of foreign descent. Not since the days of the Raj at least. Prithee, do me the honour of combat. I long to drink the blood of a Slayer again."

"You come here dressed as a freak show, which is pretty consistent I admit since you're a freak in all, and you expect me to….," Buffy babbled, then she stopped and sighed, "This is not going to be a winning argument, is it?"

"You talk too much, Slayer," the master vampire replied as he balled and unballed his fists, "I shall feast on thy soul."

"Oh, this is the part where we still trade insults?" Buffy said, then she raised her hand and charged a ball of energy in front of it, "To bad I don't have the time to play. Just tell me when it hurts."

Before she could fire off her attack something hard and heavy hit her on the back of her head and she fell to the ground. As she hit the ground she could see the sandaled feet of another vampire in drag.

It had to be the vampire she knocked against the wall she thought as pain had her in her grip. Sloppy, very sloppy! Don't leave a vampire, or any other vampire behind in any condition to recuperate. Before you knew it they would go all Spike on you and forever be a constant annoyance to y….

Before she could finish her thoughts a clawed hand grabbed her by her hair.

"I will end you, Slayer," the master vampire's voice boomed, causing her injured head to throb even more painfully.

"Yeah, I heard," Buffy said through gritted teeth, "Been there, done that, don't even get a t-shirt any mo…."

Suddenly something whizzed by, coming to a hard and sudden stop against the master vampire, knocking him into a pile of rubble. Then something was fired against the other vampire and it disintegrated screaming.

"Xander?" Buffy groaned as she shook her head to get rid of the pain, then she looked up. There was no Xander.

Standing between her and the master vampire stood Android #17.

Smiling his usual arrogant smirk the bastard even had the gall to wink at her.

"I thought I'd step in," he said, "You were doing okay, until you forgot to look behind you."

"Yeah, rub it in," she said as she got on her feet, "Let's all have a 'let's all take a dump on Buffy' party."

"What is this…. this thing?" #17 asked as the master vampire got up on his feet.

"A master vampire," Buffy replied, "A very powerful vampire. One who has lived for so long he can't hide the demon that's inside him any more."

"That is ridiculous," #17 said glancing at Buffy, "There are no such things as vampires."

" _He_ begs to differ," Buffy said pointing at the master vampire.

"Hmm," #17 mused, then his smirk returned, "How do you kill it?"

"A wooden stake through the heart, sunlight, holy water, decapitation," Buffy said, then to her surprise Android #17 fired an energy blast that disintegrated the master vampire, "I guess that works too."

"That was interesting," #17 said as he turned around towards her with a big grin from ear to ear.

"I guess you could say that," Buffy replied.

For a moment neither said anything, as the two just looked at each other.

The big secret was out, Buffy thought. She knew that the androids weren't fooled one bit with their 'trekking through India' tourist act. But until the evidence stared them in the face both sides kept the charade up. Now it was gone. She had even blurted out her name to him. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Then Android #17 turned around and made for the exit of the alley.

"Let us go, Anne," he said, still calling her by the fake name she had given him, "Your boyfriend thinks he has found us a hotel for the night."

It would seem that Johnny Depp was back to playing games. Fine so would she.

"Goodie," she said as she walked after him, "Does it have a bathroom?"

"It does," #17 shrugged, "Apparently with all those suicide bombers running amok it barely costs anything anymore to rent a decent hotel room."

"Jay for blessings in disguise," Buffy muttered as she rubbed the back of her head.

Then suddenly #17 stopped and looked over his shoulders.

"Oh, by the way, Anne," he smirked, "You're welcome."

x

* * *

x

A day + 5

x

"Pizza's here!"

Carrying a large stack of pizza boxes Yamcha entered their hide-out cave.

"Get it while its hot," Yamcha said as he put the boxes on a table and began opening boxes to see which pizza was which, "ooh, nice, this one's mine."

"Pizza? Again?" Krillin moaned as he got up from the sofa, "I'm sick to death of all this fast food."

"I'll be more then happy eating yours," Yamcha grinned.

"Just give me mine," Krillin said aggrieved.

"What did you order?" Yamcha said as he began to peek into boxes.

"I, uh, who gives," Krillin shrugged and just took a box, "Might as well have pizza surprise."

"Have it your way," Yamcha shrugged, then he took his box and walked towards some of the other rooms, "Get it while its hot!"

They were halfway through devouring their dinner when the phone rang. That was another one of Sunnydale's funny mysteries. Even below-Hellmouth caves had phone lines. And courtesy of that came something else as well.

An ancient evil so foul and terrible it scared even the most hardened and callous of demons.

Telemarketers!

"Aw crap!" Yamcha muttered in annoyance as he put down a pizza slice, "Always during dinner. It's like they have radar or something. If that's one more company offering me better rates I'll zap them through the phone line."

"Is that even possible?" Gohan asked curious.

"Let's find out," Yamcha winked, then he picked up the phone and spoke in a heavy fake middle eastern accent, "No Kosher Pizza and Kebab. How may I help?"

No sooner had he spoken when Yamcha almost let go of the phone as a loud stream of obscenities could be heard coming from its speaker. Some of which sounded suspiciously much like defamations aimed at Yamcha and his parental origins in particular.

"That sounds suspiciously much like Bulma's calling," Krillin grinned at Yamcha, who was holding the phone like it was infected with the plague.

"You think?" Yamcha said sarcastically as he waited for the constant stream of obscenities to decrease in volume, then, taking opportunity of a momentary catch of breath on her side he finally replied, "Hello, Bulma, to what do we owe the pleasure of your call?"

Yamcha listened as Bulma replied, then he covered up the phone and whispered.

"She only knew we were here when Double O Saiyan told her where we were, so she's kinda upset," he said, then he uncovered the phone, "Yeah I know, Bulma, go figure. I'm amazed he even told you. So you… yeah, this thing has a speaker. It even has a fax. All the comforts of the demonically undead, yeah, I'll put you on speaker."

Yamcha pressed a button, then put the phone down.

"Am I on speaker?" Bulma's voice asked nervously.

"We can hear you, Bulma," Krillin replied.

"Is he there? My grown up son from the future?" Bulma's voice asked.

All eyes turned towards Trunks, who looked unsure around himself.

"Answer her," Mayan whispered as she nudged his side.

"Uh, yeah," Trunks said hesitantly, "I'm here."

"Thank God!" Bulma's voice said relieved.

"But I'm alright," Trunks replied, "Nothing to worry about. We're not injured or nothing."

"I know," Bulma's voice countered, "He told me that at least. It's something else."

The group looked at each other.

"That doesn't sound to well," Yamcha said as he picked up his pizza slice. Then Bulma continued.

"A few days ago a man called us with a request for information from the North-West. He said he had found a strange vehicle in the forest. He tried to take it but couldn't move it. So he figured that if he couldn't take it he might as well collect a finders fee. So he called us."

"Okay," Trunks said as he looked around, not sure what to make of this story, "Why would he call you?"

"That's what we said," Bulma said eagerly, like Trunks had tapped into some kind of synergy with her, "We didn't lose anything. But the guy was adamant that that vehicle was ours. That it carried the Capsule Corp. logo on it. So we asked him to send us a picture. And boy, was I surprised."

Bulma paused for a moment, causing Trunks to look around again.

"She wants you to ask for it," Yamcha whispered as he leaned over, "ask her the right questions so she can talk your ears off. She's mean like that."

"Yamcha! What are you saying to my son!" Bulma's voice said angrily over the speaker.

"Just asking if he was finished with his pizza," Yamcha spoke quickly. To which Bulma snorted suspiciously, but she didn't get a chance to press the issue when Trunks spoke up.

"So what's on the picture?" Trunks asked, much to Yamcha's relief.

"Your time machine," Bulma's voice said, dropping the bombshell.

"A…., a….., are you sure?" Mayan asked.

"Oh, I'm sure," Bulma's voice said confidently, "It looks pretty beat up, but it's you guys time machine alright."

"But that's impossible," Trunks said as he reached for a wallet in his jacked containing a number of small capsules, "I got it right here with me."

"Unless my future self built another one somebody else must have ridden it after you returned," Bulma's voice said unshaken, then she paused for a moment, "Or is it after you will return? You never really know with space-time travel. So did I? Build another one that is?"

"No," Trunks said as he shook his head, "You…, she was hard-pressed building one as it is."

"Then, uh, how did your, um girlfriend come along?" Bulma's voice asked.

"Sh…., uh, you modified it to carry a 2nd passenger," Trunks said as he scratched the back of his head as he glanced at Mayan, "It was either that or she wouldn't let me go."

"Damn straight!" Mayan added resolutely as she eyed Trunks wearily, "Just look at the mess you made with me. Imagine what you would have done without me."

"Well it's obviously the same machine you used when you took care of Freeza," Bulma's voice continued, "I was there at the time, remember? But it's completely covered in moss, and the canopy looks damaged. So obviously something weird's going on, right?"

"I think our days of wait and see are over," Krillin said to Yamcha.

"I think so too," Yamcha said sullen, "I knew it was too good to be true."

"Do you guys have a fax?" Bulma's voice asked, "I'll send you the picture."

Within seconds the fax came to life and a printout came out rolling. As everybody looked at the picture in amazement Yamcha dropped the remainder of his pizza slice.

"Great! Now I lost my appetite."

x

* * *

x

When Gohan, Trunks, Mayan and Belmovekk touched down somewhere in the dense forests of the Pacific North-West they found Bulma there waiting for them.

"Yoohoo!" she cooed like a little girl who meets a rockstar, "Trunks! It's your beautiful mother!"

Taking the teen in an embrace Trunks looked uncertain what to do next.

Seeing that Gohan looked flabbergasted at the sudden outpouring of emotion, Mayan leaned over towards him.

"She mellowed out a little in our future," she whispered in his ear.

"Are you sure?" the little fighter whispered back, "Cause a lot minus a little is still an awful lot."

After the greetings were over, Bulma led the group to a small clearing in the woods where there stood the space-time machine. A large egg shaped craft, with four vertically mounted jets mounted at the sides and standing on five fins.

"Look!" Trunks said as he positioned himself next to the device and tapped one of the fins, "This is exactly like the time machine me and Mayan arrived in."

"I do not believe my eyes," Belmovekk said as he began to examine the ship up closely.

"Then I guess this one isn't yours," Bulma said, her eyes equally glued to the ship, "You sure I didn't make a 2nd one?"

"No. You only made one," Trunks said as he gently caressed the ship's fin, "And this is also the ship we arrived in."

"But that's impossible," Mayan countered, "You've got it miniaturized. How can there be two?"

"I don't know," Trunks said as he slowly shook his head, then he began to wipe away some of the moss and expose some of the bare metal, "Look!"

The others looked and saw a word written on the bare metal. It said 'Hope'.

"I so hate space-time travel," Mayan said as she cupped her chin, "That _is_ our ship."

"How can that be?" Belmovekk said aghast.

"Beats me," Trunks replied calmly.

"It has to be from your future," Bulma speculated, "Obviously you returned to your future, then you came back."

"Then were are our future selves?" Mayan countered, "This thing's been here for what? Like years?"

"Something must have gone wrong," Bulma said, to caught up in her speculations to realize the gruesome implications of what she had just said.

"I don't think you guys came back in this at all," Gohan said as he gently floated in the air and looked at the space-time machine from above, soon joined by Trunks, Mayan and Belmovekk.

"I think so too," Belmovekk said as he examined the melted opening in the canopy, "It looks like it was…."

"… melted from the inside," Mayan finished her father's sentence. Causing the four of them to look at each other.

"This could withstand anything but the kitchen sink," Mayan said pointing to the canopy, "Whatever melted it, it was hot. Real hot!"

"What in the world came here?" Bulma said aghast.

"Let's find out," Trunks said and pressed an invisible button at the base of the canopy. Next thing the canopy opened, be it slowly and jerkily, like the mechanism hadn't been used in a long time. As the weathered and moss covered canopy opened they finally had a look inside. What was inside had them gasp for air.

"How come there's only one seat?" Mayan asked Trunks, then she pointed inside, "there's only room for one inside?"

"It can't be!" Trunks said looking around, my mother made room for yo…. What's this?"

Reaching inside on the chair Trunks pulled up two half spheres.

"What's that?" Gohan asked, "A coconut shell?"

If there was any resemblance between a coconut shell and what Trunks had in his hands, it was that if you placed the two shells together they formed a single sphere. But coconut shells weren't covered in small bristles and dull spikes.

"Let me see it," Bulma asked as she held up her arms. Trunks then placed the shells into her hands.

"It kinda looks like an egg," Bulma said after she had examined the shells for a moment.

"I've never seen an egg like that," Gohan said, upon which Bulma looked at Belmovekk.

"You've been in outer space. Have you ever seen something like this?"

"No," the Saiyan said, then he held out an arm, "May I?"

Bulma gave him both shells and the Saiyan began to look at them intently.

"Whatever made that hole, it must have come from that egg," Gohan said.

"It doesn't have to be," Mayan countered, "Maybe it just left the egg after it made that hole and…. Who am I kidding. I think you're right, Sens…., uh, Gohan."

Meanwhile Trunks sat down in the chair and began to examine the controls.

"Well, power is almost dead," he said after tapping a few controls, "but maybe I can find the launch da… ohmigod!"

"What?" Mayan asked as she leaned over so she could see, then she looked at Trunks, "that's three years after we went back."

Then Trunks pointed to another number.

"And it arrived here four years ago."

Mayan looked into Trunks' face.

"Whatever came back, in this unmodified time machine, did so a year before you first did," she said.

"Maybe that's why history has been changed so much from our timeline," Trunks said as he looked over his shoulder to the large hole in the craft's canopy."

"Fascinating!" Bulma said almost enthusiastically.

Meanwhile Belmovekk had wandered off to the edge of the clearing, staring at the two shells in his hands.

"This could be it!" a voice said, heavily laden with harmonic overtones. Belmovekk didn't need to look up to know that his gold clad counterpart was standing beside him.

"They said that there was no evidence of project Ultimate in their future," the Goa'uld spectre continued as it began to walk around, thinking aloud, "This could be the evidence we were waiting for. And instead of having to wait for another 20 years, it came to us instead."

Belmovekk didn't immediately reply. Instead he sat down on a fallen tree and began to tremble.

"It was here a year before I was," he said, his voice on the edge of breaking up, "A year!"

Then the Saiyan briefly glanced at the time machine. Or two, as Trunks had now brought forth his own. Which was identical to the old one, only in good condition, and with the addition of a small extra seat in the cockpit. Then he looked at the Goa'uld spectre.

"Torak's teeth, Amūn! It was here a year before I was!" Belmovekk said shaken, "Aldur knows what it has been up too since!"

"Now's not the need to panic," Belmovekk's gold clad mirror image said back calmly, "Let us be reasonable. We still hold some good cards. In fact we hold three of them."

"You think it will go after them?" the Saiyan asked, "There should be no logical reason as to…."

"Listen to me, Saiyan!" Amūn snapped as he let his voice thunder, "Everything is connected. You should know this by now. You are at the heart of the crucible. Everything is coming together right at this moment. It only stands to reason that Gero's androids factor into this. We must use them as….."

"I think I'm going to die," Belmovekk suddenly said ash faced.

"What?" Amūn exclaimed, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I have this nagging feeling that I'm going to die," the Saiyan said staring ahead, "That I'm not going to survive this, this thing. That I will die and fail."

"Well, that's a first," Amūn said surprised, then he cupped his chin, "You'd think I'd noti….."

"Belmovekk, come quickly!" Bulma's voice interjected, "Gohan has found something."

Getting up Belmovekk dropped the shells and made for where Bulma had called from. Not that far inside the forest he found the others. They were all standing around a large chitin shell in the form of a very large insect-like creature. A large rupture was on top of the chitin carapace and Trunks was feeling around inside with his arm.

"What is this?" Belmovekk asked horrified.

"We think it's whatever came out of the egg," Gohan replied as Trunks withdrew his arm from inside the chitin shell. It was covered in a foul smelling mucous slime.

"Whatever it was, it came out recently," Trunks said as he looked at the slime on his arm.

For a moment no one said anything. Then a voice, laden with harmonic overtones spoke in Belmovekk's ear.

"Okay, _now_ is the time to panic."

x

* * *

x

Life on Kami's Lookout was about as exciting as watching paint dry, Faith thought. For days the old Namek had stood by the edge looking down, neither moving away to eat or sleep.

She had joined him, looking over the edge. But all she saw was mostly clouds and if not cloudy then, well, lots of landscape but ixnay on the details. Great if you liked your views, but not so great if you wanted to get in on what the big fuss was about.

And unfortunately, in that respect Old Pickles was as tight lipped as Jolly Green currently was. It was like if she didn't exist to either of them. While Old Pickles stood by the edge like an immovable object, Piccolo had sat down for the mother of all meditation sessions.

So, ignored by both Nameks Faith had to pester the only person on the Lookout that actually had to acknowledge her. If only because she pushed her nose into everything that wasn't secured or shut tight. And even those she managed to open.

In all his time as serving Djinn to the mystical Guardians of the Earth, Mr. Popo never had to put up with a guest who was as inquisitive, nosey, loudmouthed, at times rude and overall very much in your face as Faith had been.

There were times that Mr. Popo wished he could 'accidentally' trip her over the edge of the Tenka Bowl and get her out of his way. Oh, how he wished he could do so, if it weren't for the pesky fact that she could fly and would probably come back immediately.

Why did Kami had to teach the Z-fighters how to fly?

It used to be so peaceful until then.

Of course there was another pesky fact that Faith had learned flight on her own.

Why was there no counterpart to the Room of Spirit and Time where a person could spend a day inside and a year would pass on the outside? It would be perfect for her!

Just as Mr. Popo was about to commit girlslaughter on her troublesome ass he finally learned that what applied to young Saiyan pre-teens and other Z-fighters also applied to her. Feed her, give her a place to train and exhaust herself, then feed her some more and Bob's your uncle. And a private room where she could occasionally withdraw into to 'explore her inner self' as it were. Preferably one that was well soundproofed.

So life finally resumed a modicum of regularity again on the Lookout. With Kami observing what went on on Earth, Piccolo waiting for Kami to make up his mind and Faith being kept busy.

That was until a certain group of individuals discovered the other space-time machine. For the first time in days Kami moved and went closer to the edge to have an even better look.

"Are you still peeking at the lower world?" Piccolo sneered, speaking for the first time in days, "Not a very good habit I'm afraid. Once we rejoin we'll lose that ability. So I suppose enjoy it while you still can."

"It would seem that my feelings of unease, these past four years wasn't just because of the androids," Kami replied, as he telepathically shared what he had learned with Piccolo, "Even I don't know what came back with that space-time machine."

"What?" Piccolo said as he glanced over his shoulder, shocked at what he had just learned from Kami.

"All I know is that for me to have had these feelings of unease these past four years means that there's a life form out there that has to be even stronger then these androids."

"What are you saying?" Piccolo asked as he got up and Kami turned around to face him.

"The time for me to rejoin you, to give up the position as Earth Guardian and take on the mantle of warrior has come," Kami said both saddened yet resolute, "Something terrible is going to happen to this world. Belmovekk's great danger has finally come and I don't think even he can stop it. This isn't a case of a simple win or lose, submit or not to an evil overlord. This is a danger that will destroy every….."

Suddenly Kami stopped in mid-sentence, then he rushed to the edge of the bowl and looked down again in horror.

"Oh no…"

x

* * *

x

Flying in her private jet back towards San Francisco Bulma had a lot on her mind. And certainly not the least of which were the egg shells and chitin carapace remains that were locked in the back of her jet. What the hell had come back from the future?

And whatever it was, it had Belmovekk scared shitless. She had never seen him scared. Tired, despairing, depressed, yes. But scared…. He suspected something alright. And kept it a secret And that worried her even more because Belmovekk's secrets had a nasty habit of biting them all in the ass.

Because the plane had an auto-pilot and because she liked to think with some music on she switched on the plane's radio. Settling on a local alternative radio station she reclined in her chair and let her thoughts wander.

It just had to be related to that bombshell about that other laboratory Gero had, Bulma thought. While he had done his utmost to find Gero before he could unleash his androids, Belmovekk had never made it a secret that he doubted that it were the androids themselves that were the great danger that he was sent here to face.

And whatever it was, he seemed to think that his nemesis had finally come and that the Apocalypse had finally come.

Oh, they were going to live in interesting times alright!

As she tried to come up with ways to make sense of it all the music stopped.

"We are interrupting our regular broadcast for a breaking news story from one of our affiliate radio stations, KIRO in Seattle."

"Great!" Bulma muttered, "Another suicide bombing!"

She reached for the radio dial, only to stop halfway.

Oh my God!

x

* * *

x

Underneath Sunnydale, in the cave where Goku was being kept the phone rang again.

Letting out a deep sigh Yamcha rose from the couch and went to pick up the phone.

"Tony's Pasta's and Pizza. How may I help?" he said in a fake Italian accent, only to get chewed out by Bulma on the other end again. This time he cut her short though.

"Yeah I know it's cheesy," he said sternly, "But we're in hiding. I can't very well answer with my real name, now can I?"

"What does she want this time?" Krillin asked bored, still sitting on the couch, watching a game show on TV.

"She says to switch on CNN," Yamcha replied, causing Krillin to give Yamcha a weird look.

"Why?" he asked, "There's nothing on there but constant suicide bomber mania?"

Yamcha listened to the phone for a moment, then he covered the phone's speaker and spoke again.

"She says to switch to a news channel, any news channel, or so, and I quote, so help you Kami, she's going to come here and shove her foot so far up your ass that it will knock your teeth out," Yamcha said, then he began to grin, "Now _that_ I would like to see."

That was enough to kick Krillin in action and he grabbed the remote and switched channels. When he hit upon CNN the TV showed a lot of talking heads talking agitated amongst each other.

"I don't get it," Krillin towards Yamcha, "what am I supposed to see?"

"She says look at the scrolling newslines at the bottom of the screen," Yamcha said.

Krillin looked and saw something scroll by.

 _Suspected terror alert from town of Leavenworth, all contact lost._

"Another terrorist attack?" Krillin said looking at Yamcha, "What's so special about that?"

"She says its 10 miles from where they found Trunk's time machine," Yamcha explained, then he heard something over the telephone that really freaked him out, "Are you serious? For real?"

"What's going on?" Krillin asked nervously, if it was something that freaked out Yamcha, it had to be bad.

"Something used the time machine to come to our time," Yamcha said shocked, "something bugli…."

The talking heads on CNN were replaced with a breaking news sign, then the CNN news anchor appeared.

"We interrupt this program with a breaking news item," the news anchor said, "A local radio reporter has reached the town of Leavenworth that earlier reported a terrorist alert. No communication has been heard from Leavenworth since. We now go live to our colleagues from KIRO radio."

"….we have been in this town now for ten minutes, Henry, and have yet to find a living soul," the voice of a very agitated reporter said, "All we find is clothing strewn all over town. Like the 2000 inhabitants of this town have just melted away leaving their clothes behind."

"Mike," a voice said, probably the local radio host on the other side, "I have to say I find that very hard to believe."

"Believe what you want, Henry," the reporter replied absolutely not apologetic, "Not only do we find clothing lying all over town, it actually looks like there used to be people in them but no longer are. We even found wallets full of cash and credit cards in some of them."

"Couldn't it be that people disposed of their clothing while on the run?" the local radio host asked.

"To quote from Home Improvement, I don't think so, Tim," the reporter all but snorted, "Cause then there would be clothes strewn in a straight line. Or a pile. It really does look like people fell to the ground, then melted away without a trace within their clo… Henry, we just found some guns together with some police uniforms. Jake, our driver, is checking them out and…"

"They've been fired," another voice said, "there's not a bullet left in them."

"It seems that whatever happened here, the people of this town did try to put up a resistance," the reporter continued, "To no avail it would seem."

"This is horrible," Krillin said aghast as he listened to the ongoing news. Then Belmovekk, Gohan, Trunks and Mayan entered the cave and saw Krillin and Yamcha transfixed at the TV.

"Another suicide attack?" Belmovekk asked.

"Worse," Yamcha said as he put down the phone and filled them in to what had happened. Before he could finish shots could be heard on the radio broadcast.

"Gunshots!" the reporter said excitedly, "We hear gunshots! There must still be some people left!"

"You'd think?" Yamcha said sarcastically.

"It's quiet now," the reporter continued, "We're going to check it out."

"Mike, be careful," the radio host said, "We don't know what we're dealing with here."

"All the more reason for us to know," the reporter replied as various noises could be heard indicating that he and the news team were running.

"Again there are more empty clothes," the reporter said, panting lightly, "and guns. That one is still smoking and… oh no….."

"Mike," the radio host yelled worried, "What's going on? Mike please tell us! Mi…."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…."

A final scream was the only reply, then there was static as the connection was cut off.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Yamcha said both flabbergasted and horrified.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Kami stepped away from the edge again and turned around, eyes downcast.

"Don't hog all the fun for yourself," Piccolo asked, arms folded across his chest, Faith behind him, "Tell me everything you saw down there."

"Alright," Kami said after a moment.

"Good," Piccolo said approvingly, "shoot the shit."

"No need to tell you," Kami replied, "You will know everything once we've joined."

If he looked surprised he didn't show it. Instead Piccolo began to smirk.

"Are we in a hurry now? Seen a monster?"

"Yes," Kami said, "We must hurry, before there are more victims."

"Okay," Piccolo replied, "But I'll be our base, remember."

"That's fine with me," Kami nodded, "You are much younger and fitter anyway. I'll just power you up. You may even benefit from my broader vision."

Kami took a step towards Piccolo and exposed his chest.

"Since you are the base place your hand on me," he said.

Slowly, and a little hesitantly Piccolo reached out and placed his hand on Kami's chest.

"Kami-Sama!" Mr. Popo cried out heartbroken, "No."

"What's going on here, Jolly Green?" Faith asked equally worried, "What's going to happen?"

Piccolo didn't reply. Kami on the other hand did as he smiled at Mr. Popo.

"Don't worry," he smiled, "Earth doesn't need a Guardian right now, it needs a Protector. Thank you for everything, Mr. Popo. Piccolo, you have changed much over the years. Your evil heart has all but disappeared. We probably won't split again afterwards."

Kami smiled one last smile at Mr. Popo, then he began to yell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

A massive chi flame erupted around the two Nameks, then Kami's yell turned to one of pain as his face twisted into a painful grimace. Then it twisted even more as if the very bodily essence of him was drained away.

Next came a huge flash, then it all stopped.

And then there was only Piccolo.

As silence regained hold of the Tenka Bowl Piccolo looked at his own hands, like they were the most amazing things he had ever seen. Meanwhile Mr. Popo looked downwards as a tear rolled down his eyes. Faith on the other hand was in seven states of near panic as she had no clue as to what had just happened.

"What the hell just happened?" she said. But she was again being ignored.

"Farewell, Kami," Mr. Popo said softly, "Please don't die."

Upon hearing the Djinn speak Piccolo looked over his shoulder.

"I am no longer Kami," he said solemnly, "Nor am I Piccolo. I am only a Namek who has forgotten his name."

Piccolo walked towards the edge of the Tenka Bowl when Faith went after him. Only to be stopped by him as he held out his hand towards her.

"I know you never listen, or do as you're told," Piccolo said solemnly, "but if there ever was a time that you would listen to your friend and teacher Piccolo, please do so now, Faith."

"But Piccolo….," Faith said as Piccolo briefly glanced over his shoulder.

"I'll be back," he said as he gave her a warm smile.

And then he jumped over the edge and disappeared.

x

* * *

x

In the cave underneath the Hellmouth everybody had been transfixed to the TV as the live radio report had come in, then ended abruptly. As the CNN talking heads began to speculate what had happened Krillin turned off the TV.

"You guys think it's the thing from that shed skin you've found?" he asked the new arrivals.

"It has to be, Trunks said as he rolled out a map of the USA on the table, "It's like ten miles from where we found our time machine."

"What do you think, Belmovekk?" Yamcha asked the Saiyan. But the Saiyan didn't immediately reply. Instead he seemed to be lost within thought, occasionally appearing to be listening to something else.

"He's been acting weird ever since we saw that 2nd time machine," Mayan said, not sure what to make of it, then she turned towards the map table, "We have to go back. Stop that thing, whatever it is."

x

* * *

x

Having flown the distance in record time Piccolo (for lack of a better name) touched down in Leavenworth, Washington State. Standing next to empty clothes and abandoned radio equipment Piccolo surveyed the town.

For a moment he thought he had arrived too late. That the monster had left.

Then he heard the soft sound of nailed feet walking behind him.

As he slowly turned around Piccolo spoke up.

"So you've finally decided to show yourself, monster?"


	13. Interlude 'The Rock Cried Out No Hiding

**Interlude:**

' **The Rock Cried Out No Hiding Place'**

x

x

AN: _I wrote this in two days, right after I posted chapter three. As always, tell me what you thought of it. ;)_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 345 days, somewhere, sometime

x

Standing on the bridge of the USAF Deliverance colonel William Ronson stared at a holographic map of the Earth. Zooming in on a particular part of the United States he stared at what once had been his home. Hit very early during the Android Invasion there was now nothing left for him to return to.

Having lost both his wife and son the Androids had taken everything from him, until all that was left was vengeance. He and all the others who had lost by now over two billion loved ones. But unlike most of the Androids' victims Ronson was in the unique position to do something about it.

The USAF Deliverance was a captured Goa'uld Ha'tak cruiser. She had been captured at great expense by the SGC, as Earth itself fell apart and what was thought to be once dependable allies deserted the SGC in its greatest hour of need. Even the free Jaffa had deserted the SGC, until only Teal'c remained.

The upside was that once the Goa'uld had learned of the disaster that had befallen Earth they had pretty much stopped paying attention to what the SGC was doing. Oh, SGC teams still clashed with Goa'uld forces occasionally, probably even more so now that they were all the more desperate for technology. But the Goa'uld knew it was only a matter of time before it Earth ceased to be a problem, so why spend any resources dealing with Earth when there were more pressing concerns? Like the return of Anubis.

A minor civil war between the forces of Anubis and those of Yi and some minor Goa'uld called Amūn now occupied the average Goa'uld more then a rapidly diminishing Earth. Which ultimately was in the SGC's advantage. It had cost the SGC a lot of resources, lives and naquadah but they had managed to come upon an abandoned Ha'tak that had been salvaged by some Jaffa who had gone into business for themselves. For the right sum they had parted with it and now it was the SGC's. Earth's final hope of ever stopping the androids.

To bad it had been severely damaged in battle to the point that the rogue Jaffa had thought it irreparable. Which was why they ultimately were willing to part with it. It had taken even more resources, lives lost and above all time, to scrounge together the parts to bring most of the ship's weaponry back online. Unfortunately the shield generator was still performing at only 30%.

Which was mainly the reason that the SGC and the joint chiefs had decided to not to use the Deliverance, even though some felt, including Ronson, that she was the only weapon they had to really destroy the androids. That any delay meant more lives lost. Of course Ronson also understood the other side of the argument and that his ship wasn't fully combat ready yet. So now he sat on board the Deliverance as it hid behind the moon while desperate engineers tried feverishly to restore more of her systems to life.

One good thing had come from acquiring the Deliverance. Her sensors were still intact and careful study of them by the clever boffins of Capsule Corp. had finally netted Earth a means to track the whereabouts of the androids. The ability to keep track of the androids meant their attacks could be predicted and that alone saved so many lives it at least allowed Ronson to sleep at night.

Unfortunately the current Capsule Corp. system used to track the androids had the drawback of only being able to detect the androids while in flight. And once the androids figured out they could be tracked while in flight the bastards adapted. Especially the dark haired one seemed to revel in coming up with fiendish ways to blend in and sneak up on human settlements.

Still, even that slowed them down considerably.

Having stared enough at the holographic map of his former home city Ronson turned around to sit in the command chair. Time to get back to work. Which meant reading and signing lots of reports. In a way it was both chilling and comforting to know that even in the midst of an apocalypse bureaucracy still found ways to endure.

Having visions of German bureaucrats still punching away on their typewriters as the Red Army stormed into Berlin, Ronson sat down in his command chair. An adjutant wasted no time in coming by his side holding a large stack full of reports and forms to be signed. Groaning inwardly Ronson resigned himself to getting the job done.

He was about halfway through a very dull, yet necessary TPS report about a lack of ball bearings when the communication officer looked up.

"Colonel," he said, "General O'Neill for you, private channel."

"I'll take it," Ronson said and activated a switch on the command chair. You had to love those paranoid Goa'uld, he thought as a small force field enveloped the command chair. Not only did it protect it's Divine Pomposity from any sneak attack, it also allowed it's Divine Pomposity to hold private conversations with other Divine Pomposities.

After all, one had to keep up appearances for the troops!

To bad need to know applied as much to the Earth forces as it did to Jaffa. And once Ronson heard what General O'Neill had to say he was glad for the private channel. Some things were better for his crew if they heard them from him, rather then through the ship's grapevine.

x

* * *

x

Back on Earth General O'Neill put down the special phone and sighed. He knew that while Ronson was eager to go into battle, the man also knew his ship wasn't ready. He didn't like having to order Ronson to send the Deliverance back to Earth. Part of him didn't even think it would help. But he had no choice. The androids had found out about the existence of the SGC and were coming this way.

They had done so in a Russian facility, which used to be the site of the Russian Stargate program, only to find a still active database which gave away, well, basically everything really. And he knew this because the androids didn't finish killing off everybody at the base but were making straight for the SGC.

He always knew the Russians were sloppy, and now Russian sloppiness could cost them their one last chance.

But there was still a chance to snatch victory at the jaws of defeat. For a long while the Earth's best tacticians have tried to come up with a way to defeat the androids. Come up with the perfect trap.

And this could be the perfect trap.

The SGC was Earth's only way of communication with the galaxy. The only way to save humanity if the androids did prove unstoppable, if only to save as much of humanity by sending as much of it to the stars. Millions had already done so to the Alpha Site. It was obvious that the androids, hell bent on exterminating humanity, didn't exactly care much for that.

So now that they had the perfect target for the androids O'Neill was going to do his best to make sure that the trap would be set for them.

x

* * *

x

Once the Colorado Springs fortified city housed more then a million desperate people, huddling together for safety. But that changed long even before the fortified city program was acknowledged to be a massive failure. While the government still kept the program's failure a secret it was deemed that the Colorado Springs military installations, the SGC in particular, were too important to be risked by offering the androids a chance to kill a million people in one stroke.

So when the androids approached the SGC and by virtue of its closeness Colorado Springs, barely a few thousand people were left in the city.

And they were almost all soldiers.

As the androids approached the outskirts of Colorado Springs three dozen SAM trails sprang into life and made for the murderous twosome.

They had experienced this before. It was nothing new to them. As the missiles exploded in front of them their energies just pushed the explosive shockwaves and shrapnel out of the way. Not even bothering to dispose of the missile batteries crews they confidently pressed on.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

They were halfway across the town when suddenly the city erupted in a giant nuclear explosion and they got hit by a nuclear blast wave the likes of which the world hadn't been seen.

At the same time, in a tightly coordinated move, the full Trident compliment of two Ohio class submarines, some of the last remaining in the US arsenal, rained down on Colorado Springs as well, adding their nuclear destruction to the carnage.

And then came the coup de grace, as a massive beam of energy came down from the heavens and added its deadly energy to the inferno.

When it was over nothing remained of Colorado Springs. Except the mother of all nuclear mushrooms.

x

* * *

x

Inside the SGC complex the place shook like hell itself was falling apart.

NORAD, which was above the SGC, had been build to withstand a nuclear attack during the Cold War. But even at the time it wasn't considered as completely safe. Considering that he just dropped more nuclear ordnance on the neighboring Colorado Springs then even the most pessimistic predictions during the Cold War O'Neill was surprised that he hadn't blown away the mountain as well.

For that he probably had to thank the base's shield generator.

The SGC only had two large shield generators. One was onboard the Deliverance and was still being repaired. The other had been installed at the SGC itself, to protect the base against outside attacks.

There had been considerable debate as to strip the SGC shield generator and install it on board the Deliverance. But O'Neill and many others had fought that tooth and nail. While the Deliverance was considered humanity's only chance to strike at the androids, the Joint Chiefs ruled that the SGC and its Stargate in particular were of greater importance to humanity's future survival. The Deliverance was still a long shot, but as long as the SGC existed humanity still had a means of escape, or a way to acquire potential new weapons against the androids.

"Is everybody alright?" O'Neill asked after the shaking had stopped and bits of the ceiling stopped falling.

"I think I am," a technician moaned, after which more voices could be heard.

"All stations report," O'Neill shouted, and one after the other departments reported in. Then came the news he dreaded most but expected anyway.

"Sir, shield generator here," a voice spoke over the intercom, "She's completely fried."

It was as he expected.

Colonel Carter, God rest her soul, had come up with the idea after observing many failed nuclear attacks against the androids. No attack ever managed to even put a scratch on the androids, despite them being hit by some of the strongest nukes ever built. Even a naquadah enhanced nuclear bomb didn't faze these things.

She concluded that the problems were twofold. There were no ways to build a single nuclear, naquadah or even naquadria bomb powerful enough to destroy the androids. You needed multiple ones. Then there was the problem that with any explosion the energy of that explosion dissipated in all directions. Which meant that in order to destroy an object requiring X amount of explosive force you needed an explosive device with Y times that yield.

But what if, she figured, if you could direct that energy, send all that Y amount of enemy onto the target? Greater efficiency in the past had been used to create smaller, more precise munitions. But in the androids' case there clearly was no such thing as overkill. You needed every bit of explosive yield you could get your hands on.

The way to do it, she figured, was to use a Goa'uld shield to envelop the explosions and direct all that energy inward. Of course the kind to mega-tonnage she had in mind meant that ultimately the shield would collapse within milliseconds, so some energy dissipation was to be expected. Which ultimately meant you needed even more explosive yield to compensate for that.

That left a pretty big problem in the amount of coordination. Not only did you need a massive amount of nuclear and/or naquadah enhanced weapons gathered in one place, you also had to prepare them for simultaneous detonation. Which meant that such a scheme could only be used in a carefully prepared ambush site. It was also a problem that you required a massive Goa'uld shield generator to set up such an ambush. Which just happened to be in short supply.

Unfortunately there was no way to set up such an ambush, as there was no spare Goa'uld shield generator, Earth's nuclear stockpile had been rapidly depleted in the early days and there was just no way to predict where the androids would go next. Their path was just totally random.

But there was one place which did have that generator, and one place which was considered valuable enough to carefully position a considerable portion of Earth's remaining nuclear stockpile.

The SGC.

Knowing that the androids were coming, and from which direction General O'Neill decided to put Colonel Carter's old plan into action. 12 naquadah enhanced nukes had been pre-positioned around the mountain, with 8 having been used in the ambush. And to top it off he would add an additional nuclear barrage _and_ the firepower from the Deliverance on top of it. Sam's plan after all dated back to the early days of the Android Invasion, and his boffins were now convinced that the androids were considerably more powerful then even Sam originally had thought. Luckily the algorhythm she had come up with was flexible and could be adjusted for greater yield.

The downside to Sam's plan was that it had totally glazed both Colorado Springs and anything outside of the mountain. And probably a considerable part of that mountain as well. There was no way knowing how many people had died outside. Probably every soldier still stationed at the surface.

It couldn't be helped though. A believable opposition had to be delivered the way the androids had come to expect. They knew that they were going to be expected and that this was the most important human military facility left on the planet. To have put up no defense, no matter how futile, could give away that this was a trap.

So the soldiers and any civilians that were left on the surface had been sacrificed. Not even told what to expect fearing that they might desert. It was a cruel thing to do, but a necessary thing. First to lull the androids into the trap, secondly because, well, since the mass conscription of every non-necessary male the quality and steadfastness of the army had declined considerably. The old army would have stood its ground, no questions asked. The current army had to be coerced to fight. It was only one step above the Red Army of 1941, which employed whole NKVD brigades to hunt down and execute deserters and stop any retreating units. By shooting them all.

The other downside to executing Sam's plan was that they were now, for all intents and purposes blind. All means of communication with the outside world was now cut off. And with it also all means to found out if it had worked. Until they managed to get a poor sap to the surface with a radio antenna there were as blind as a bat.

x

* * *

x

At the edge of the biggest nuclear mushroom in history Whiskey Flight was flying around its edges trying to ascertain if the ambush had worked. The two Deathgliders from the Deliverance reported right back to the Deliverance's control room.

"Deliverance actual, this is Whiskey leader. We have reached ground zero," a voice, heavily laden with static reported, as Colonel Ronson, sitting in his command chair, listened in closely. Throughout the bridge of the Deliverance people were listening, eagerly awaiting news if their attack had worked.

"Whiskey flight," this is Deliverance actual," the flight controller spoke behind his console, "Do you see any signs of either Hostile One or Two?"

For a while there was no reply, which increased the general anxiety onboard the Deliverance. Then there was a general burst of static.

"Sweet mother of Jesus, this really is the biggest 'shroom I've ever seen," another voice said over the radio.

"Can it, Whiskey two," the voice of Whiskey leader spoke, "All I want to hear is that you found their remains."

"There's not going to be any remains, Whiskey leader," Whiskey two replied excited, "Nothing has survived this. It can't be!"

"It sure looks that way," Whiskey leader said back pensively, "Whiskey two, continue to look for the targets. I will check out if the SGC has survived."

"The suspense is killing me," Ronson's adjutant said nervously.

"No more then after any other operation, son," Ronson replied calmly. Inside he was nervous as hell as well. But as the ship's captain he could never show it to the crew in public. And certainly not at a moment like this.

Another burst of static followed.

"Jesus!" the voice of Whiskey leader said aghast, "half the mountain's been blown away. SG Command, this is Whiskey leader. Do you copy."

There was no reply.

"SG Command, this is Whiskey leader calling on behalf of Deliverance, do you copy, SG Command?"

Again there was no reply.

"Deliverance actual, this is Whiskey leader, I have no sign of contact from SG Command."

The flight controller looked at Ronson, not sure what to say. So Ronson leaned towards his left as he pressed a button in his chair.

"Whiskey leader, this is Deliverance actual," he said calmly, "Continue with the present mission. Abort at the first signs of Hostiles."

"Willco," Whiskey leader replied, "SG Command, this is Whiskey leader, do you copy?"

On the bridge the first officer joined Ronson's side.

"What are we going to do if Stargate Command is no more?" he asked somewhat concerned.

"There are only two options," Ronson replied softly, "If the Hostiles survived we withdraw to a safe distance, if they didn't we land at the largest military base. This ship has the last functional Stargate. It must survive."

"SG Command, this is Whiskey leader," the radio uttered, "Do you copy, SG Command?"

Another burst of static followed, then a new, yet very familiar voice replied, be it very weakly.

"Whiskey leader, this is Stargate Command. The rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Cheers began to erupt on the bridge of the Deliverance.

"Patch me through, son," Ronson said to the flight controller, upon which the flight controller opened a direct line to the SGC using the radio onboard the Deathglider as a go between, "Stargate Command, this is Deliverance. How are you doing, Jack?"

"Shaken but stirred," O'Neill's voice replied casually, "We've seen better days, but at least we're still seeing something."

"Glad to hear it, Jack," Ronson smiled.

"Did it work?" O'Neill's voice asked, "Did we destroy them?"

Suddenly the bridge crew looked at Ronson to see what he would reply. The captain of the Deliverance hesitated for a moment before replying.

"It sure looks that way, Jack," he finally said, "My other bird hasn't reported any sightings of them yet. Usually they're pretty quick to come forward and show us that resistance is futile."

"Thank God!" O'Neill's voice replied, "It has cost us. Dearly."

Then the voice of Whiskey leader spoke up.

"Whiskey two, this is Whiskey leader, come in."

There was no reply.

"Whiskey two, this is Whiskey leader, report!"

Again there was no reply.

"Whiskey leader, this is Deliverance," Ronson spoke into his communicator, "Abort! I repeat abort, abort, abort!"

"Willco," Whiskey leader spoke.

"Helmsman, takes us out of here," Ronson said as he turned his command chair around, "Until we hear otherwise we have to assume that…"

"To late!" the sensor operator spoke up, "I have a massive energy reading coming this way."

"Raise shields!" Ronson yelled, "And get us the hell out of….."

Suddenly the outside windows lit up like the light of a thousand suns was right outside.

"Oh no," Ronson said. And then….. there was nothingness.

x

* * *

x

"This is the Vice-President of the United States to the Joint Chiefs and any US military personnel who can still hear us. Case Jericho is now in effect. May God have mercy on all your souls. This is the Vice-President of the U…"

As the emergency signal broadcasted itself over the jury rigged communications system, people were running through the corridors of the SGC, carrying whatever they could carry towards the gate room. Inside the gate room the Stargate was active as a steady stream of goods and people made through the gate.

Standing in the control room above General O'Neill and Teal'c, the last surviving members of the once famous SG-1 watched the proceedings below, with Teal'c carrying a massive portable staff cannon in true BFG style.

"Case Jericho, who would have thought it would come to this?" O'Neill said dispirited. Case Jericho was the code word that the government of the United States, and many others for that matter, together with the best and brightest had abandoned the planet and put whatever was left of their military in charge. That they conceded that there was no more hope and that whatever remained of the government and humanity in exile would begin anew at the Alpha Site.

"I did not, O'Neill," Teal'c said stoically.

"All those years of dodging the Goa'uld and now it has come to this," O'Neill said as he turned around and watched as yet another security monitor feed stopped and turned to static.

"Androids have now reached level 18, sir," tech sergeant Walters called out.

"I can see, Walters," O'Neill said pointing to the security monitor, then he looked at Teal'c, "It won't be long now."

"Maybe you should go, O'Neill," Teal'c said, "There is still time."

"I'm too old to go back trekking across the stars," O'Neill said as he shook his head. Besides, a captain should go down with his ship."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"But you do not command a ship," he said in that slightly puzzled look of his.

"The principle stays the same," Jack shrugged, then he heard a noise and looked around, only to see Dr. Janet Frasier enter the control room.

"The last of my patients is through," she said, then she looked hesitant, "I…. um…."

"I understand," Jack smiled, "You came to say goodbye."

"I, uh," Janet stammered, then she shook her head, "It's still not too late, general. Come with us, we could use you."

Another security monitor feed went blank and General O'Neill briefly looked at it, before returning his gaze at Dr. Frasier again.

"And belittle the sacrifice of my men? No thanks," he said shaking his head, then he held out his hand, "Godspeed, Doc. Thanks for the good care throughout the years."

"Goodbye Jack," Janet said as she shook his hand, then she let go and gave him a salute, "Goodbye, sir!"

Jack returned the salute and gave her a warm smile.

"Take good care of my men on the other side."

"I will," she smiled back. Then she turned around and made for the gate room.

Sighing Jack turned around and looked at Teal'c.

"And why are you staying?" he asked.

"Why do you even ask what you already know, O'Neill?" Teal'c said resolutely.

"I know old friend," Jack nodded, then he reached around for a sixpack of beer, "You know, I was hoping to finish these once we had defeated those blasted things. But it would seem this is as good a time as any to fulfill that old cliché. Care for one?"

"I would be honored to do so, O'Neill," Teal'c nodded as he accepted a can of beer.

"To absent friends," O'Neill said as he raised his can.

"Absent friends," Teal'c said as he raised his can. Then they drank deeply and emptied their cans.

Yet another security monitor feed went blank.

"They have reached level 21 now, sir," tech sergeant Walters said, then he looked at O'Neill, "All non-essential personnel have now left the base, sir.

"Glad to hear it, son," O'Neill said, then he patted the tech sergeant on the shoulders, "You are hereby relieved soldier, report to General Landry at the Alpha Site."

Giving O'Neill a brief salute Walters ran out of the control room.

"And that leaves just us two," O'Neill said.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied, then he took hold of the large staff cannon hanging from his shoulders, "O'Neill, recall your men. I shall defend the Stargate for as long as I can. I shall test the mettle of these androids."

"Be careful out there," Jack called out as the Jaffa made for the exit of the control room. Then he went to a different console and took hold of the microphone.

"All hear this, this is General O'Neill," his voice boomed throughout the base, "All personnel, fall back to the Gate room, I repeat, fall back to the Gate room. Save yourselves, I repeat, save yourselves."

Having given his final command O'Neill dropped the microphone and went for the table where he grabbed two things, one of which was another can of beer which he opened. Then he went to stand in front of the window towards the Gate room.

All the civilians and support staff had left, leaving the Gate room empty, except for Teal'c with his Big F***ing Gun. Then more and more soldiers came running into the Gate room and scrambled past Teal'c into the Stargate. Nodding approvingly O'Neill was glad to see so many of them still alive to fight another day. Not as many as he hoped, but any chaotic retreat meant that many still got killed fleeing. Still, better then to lose them all in a futile last stand that served no further purpose.

The stream of soldiers grew to a trickle, then almost came to a stop. And then came the moment that no more soldiers came and gunfire could be heard.

And then even the gunfire stopped.

Next thing Teal'c opened fire with his BFG and tore into the corridor leading up to the Gate room. Screaming the big Jaffa let it rip but the sound of his bolts exploding came ever closer, then it became almost pointblank range as a force field burst into the Gate room.

As the androids finally entered the Gate room Teal'c stopped firing, then he dropped his BFG and reached for a staff gun that stood behind him. It may pack even less firepower, but in hand to hand combat it became like an extension to the big Jaffa.

Shouting a defiant face me to the androids the Jaffa assumed a fighting stance.

The two androids looked at each other. O'Neill knew that the male android, called #17, was up for playing games of any kind. He was even known to let people go who impressed him with their bravery. Or just for the sheer fun of it. He probably didn't think it would matter since sooner or later he would exterminate all humans anyway, but it still amused him.

The female android, called #18, couldn't care less about playing games. She killed without mercy and without anything holding her back. Judging by the reports he had read the only reason why she didn't blow up the planet and get it over with was because of the other android, to which she seemed subservient.

Unfortunately for Teal'c in this instance she did not submit to her more playful counterpart. Instead she raised a hand towards the Jaffa and shot an energy blast that went right through his stomach.

Gasping the big Jaffa dropped his staff gun and fell to the ground. The male android looked at the female one, shook his head for a moment like he was denied some fun, then turned and looked towards the still swirling Stargate. The two then looked at each other, not certain where to proceed, then they began to walk to the gate.

And then the Stargate closed down and the event horizon disappeared.

That was the moment O'Neill tapped at the window, causing the two androids to look around at him. Smiling at them, O'Neill raised his beer can in a salute and had one last swig.

And in the Gate room Teal'c began to laugh.

For he knew that once the Stargate was shut down the base self destruct would activate within seconds. And a massive naquadah enhanced nuclear bomb would detonate.

And then the world turned to white…..


	14. Chapter Seven

**Chapter 7**

' **Down is the New Up'**

x

x

AN: _The pace should start to quicken up again after some more intermediary chapters. And as always keep 'm coming._

x

* * *

x

A Day + 5

x

As he faced the monster that stood before him a million things went through Piccolo's mind. Not the least of which was fear. Fear for this strange bizarre mottled insectoid yet at the same time also human looking creature, straight out of the depths of hell. But also fear from what he was sensing. Because now that he had found the creature he could let his senses lock on to the thing.

And be horrified by what he sensed.

It was only then that he noticed that the creature was dragging a human being along. One of those grossly overweighed Americans, who began to beg for help the moment he saw Piccolo.

"Please, help me!" the man begged, his voice going up in the upper register through his sheer panic, "If you want money, I got money! But please save me!"

Looking at the fat man Piccolo felt nothing but revulsion. A life led to excess, both in eating and acquiring wealth was no life worth living as far as the Namek was concerned. But he also understood the danger of deciding who gets to live and who doesn't. And the Dark Side to which it led.

"I do not know if you can understand me," Piccolo stated trying to sound calm and commanding, "but let him go. Even things like that deserve to live."

The monster looked motionless at Piccolo for a moment. Then it let go off the man.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the man muttered as he tried to crawl towards Piccolo.

But then the creature lashed out with its tail, which was almost man length in size. Driving a razor sharp needle at its tip into the man's back the man came to a stop and looked in horror towards Piccolo. Then, after raising a hand towards the Namek his eyes began to glaze. And to Piccolo's horror the man began to shrink in size, like he was melting from the inside, until there was nothing left but an empty set of clothes.

What the…, Piccolo thought, looking on in horror, then memories of Kami came flooding in and it dawned upon Piccolo that this was what the creature had done to the whole town of Leavenworth. And was going to do again and again to countless other places until he stopped it.

"You're going to be next," the creature said smug as its face turned into some hideous smirk, "Arch-demon Piccolo."

Revulsion made way to anger.

"How do you know my name?" Piccolo demanded to know, "What are you?"

The answer came as the monster created a blastwave of chi that blasted through the town as it increased its power massively. And sensing the monster's chi Piccolo began to recoil. Seeing Piccolo step backwards the monster smirked some more.

"Don't you know, Piccolo?" it said smug, "I'm your brother."

x

* * *

x

Throughout the world people took notice as they sensed the monster of Leavenworth no longer hide its power and felt the nature of its chi. For everybody felt something different.

x

* * *

x

In Sunnydale the chi fighters had come to the surface to take off when they felt the monster's chi hit them.

"F-f-f-f-freeza?" Krillin said aghast as he subconsciously felt something take hold of his innards and rip him apart again.

x

* * *

x

In the mountains of the Himalayas Tienshinhan and Chaozu looked towards the east.

"Tien," Chaozu asked his companion in horror, "Why do I sense you?"

x

* * *

x

Somewhere in the Caucasus Vegeta was shell shocked as well.

"What is this?" he said with a trembling voice, "Kakarot?"

x

* * *

x

In Kolkata Buffy and Xander looked outside their hotel window.

"Something's wrong," Buffy said, "Vegeta's in trouble."

"Vegeta?" Xander said shaking his head, "I sense the friggin' Mayor again!"

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Faith looked over its edge. She couldn't see anything but clouds but knew there was something wrong as well.

"B.?"

x

* * *

x

In Sunnydale Trunks and Mayan had launched themselves into the air towards Leavenworth, Krillin was about to join them when he saw Belmovekk fumble with a mobile telephone.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked the Saiyan.

"Oh, I am coming alright," Belmovekk said as he put the telephone to his ear, "After I tell Warleader Hammond that if he values his men he keeps them out of that town."

x

* * *

x

In Leavenworth the monster had reached its full power, that strange power which exuded characteristics from so many friends and foes alike.

"So, who are you really?" Piccolo asked after the monster stopped powering up, "Tell me everything."

"Don't need too," the monster all but shrugged smug, "I'll be feasting on you instead."

Then to the monster's surprise Piccolo began to laugh.

"Not a talker, huh," Piccolo laughed, "Fine. Guess I'll have to kill you without knowing then."

"What makes you think you can kill me?" the monster asked, slightly curious by Piccolo's sudden brashness, "Does the Arch-Demon Piccolo thinks he stands a chance with me?"

"I don't know how you know Piccolo," Piccolo smirked as he balled his fists. Then he crossed them before his face and his power erupted, blasting through the town like another destructive tidal wave.

"To bad for you you've mistaken me for somebody else."

x

* * *

x

Somewhere over Central-California Trunks looked over his shoulder towards Mayan, Krillin and Belmovekk.

"I suddenly feel another huge chi," he said flabbergasted, "How many of these guys are there?"

"That's Piccolo!" Krillin exclaimed.

"Is he not a tad to big to be Piccolo," Belmovekk asked, "He is stronger then I am."

"I told you he was going to unite with Kami," Krillin said vindicated, "Piccolo was already insanely strong, now he's, well, a Super Namek!"

"Go figure," Mayan added, "Now we truly have seen everything."

x

* * *

x

"Are you trying to tell me you're not the Arch-Demon Piccolo?" the monster called out after Piccolo had raised his power.

"That's right," Piccolo said, white flames of chi burning around him, "Oh, and thanks for getting the town's people out of the way. Now I can go all out on your sorry ass."

Before the monster could reply, Piccolo raised his arm towards the thing and unleashed a massive blast at the creature.

Somewhere over Northern-California the four chi fighters came to a dead stop as they saw a massive flash blink somewhere to the north of them.

As every fighter realized that something was going on, Belmovekk heard a voice, laden with harmonic overtones whisper in his ear.

"It has begun."

x

* * *

x

Buffy and Xander had gone to the top of the roof of their hotel when they heard somebody else come on to the roof.

"Why are you here?" #17 asked, both curious and a little suspicious at the same time.

Before either Buffy or Xander could reply, #18 looked up into the sky. She and her brother had never been fitted with anything remotely like scouter technology, nor could she sense chi. But still, even she could sense something, a palpable feeling that something was wrong. More of a gut feeling.

"There's a change in the air," she said, as she almost tried to smell it, "Something is different.

"Yeah, it's called pollution," #17 said snide, "this city's air is rife with it."

"That's not it," she said shaking her head.

"Who cares?" #17 said dismissively, "Maybe a volcano erupted somewhere. Or some suicide bomber blew up something really big."

Then to everybody's surprise the big guy spoke up.

"Two large powers are fighting somewhere east of Seattle," he said both calmly and resolutely.

They all looked at the big android. The big android never spoke up. Which meant that when he did all looked upon him.

"Have you been fitted with a power reader?" #18 asked, "You never told us you had one?"

"You never asked," #16 replied deadpan.

"I see," #17 said, "Can you tell us at least which two are fighting?"

"Neither one is in my data banks," the big android all but shrugged, "but one of them is strong enough to fight you on equal terms."

For a moment the two other androids looked shocked. Then #17 recovered.

"Now I know for certain why Gero put you away," he said as he walked past #16 to climb down the roof again, "You're clearly malfunctioning. Nobody can be as strong as I am."

#18 didn't seem to share #17's conviction but she said nothing as she followed #17 off the roof, leaving only Android #16 with Buffy and Xander.

"Arrogance and stupidity, all combined in one package, how efficient," Xander remarked. Buffy didn't reply, instead she walked up to Android #16.

"#16, those powers," she asked the big android, sounding a bit worried, "Is one of them….. Saiyan?"

All pretences were dropped now, as she had never approached either one of the androids as an android. For a moment the huge android looked down at the small girl in front of him.

"I do not know," he finally said as he shook his head, "Everything is… in flux?"

x

* * *

x

In what remained of the town of Leavenworth the monster was shocked by the sheer firepower this Piccolo had unleashed upon him. This wasn't supposed to happen!

Getting on his feet he saw Piccolo come charging towards him. Raising a hand towards the Arch-Demon to fire a counter blast Piccolo deftly evaded his efforts by jumping upwards at the last possible moment. The monster went after him, only to receive a foot in the face that sent him back crashing into the ground. Getting up defiantly the monster only barely managed to evade Piccolo coming towards him.

A fast flurry of kicks and punches followed where the monster only barely managed to fend off Piccolo, while the Namek hardly seemed to have to exert himself. More close quarter fighting followed through the ruins of Leavenworth until the monster used a kick from Piccolo to put some distance between them.

"If that's the best you can do you're hardly the terrible danger I imagined you to be," Piccolo said, barely even panting.

"You're good, I have to admit that," the monster said, panting heavily, "You're lucky still that I'm still not in my perfect form yet."

"Perfect form?" Piccolo said slightly taken aback, "Is that why you've been absorbing people?"

"I take the essence and add their energy to my own," the monster said smirking.

"I see," Piccolo said, then more memories from Kami flooded his mind, "Answer me this, creature, who sent you back to this time using Trunk's time machine?"

"I sent myself back," the creature grinned, "Unfortunately I was too big to fit in and had to regress to a more larval form. I must say I'm impressed you know about the time machine as well."

Then the monster winked.

"Here's something you don't know though," he said as he put one hand in front of him, "KA!"

Another hand was cupped next to the first one.

"ME!"

Both hands were placed cupped together next to the creature's waist.

"HA!"

Blue energy began to form between the cupped hands.

All the while Piccolo watched in fascinated horror, like a train wreck about to happen but which he was unable to stop.

That stance! This can't be!?

"ME!"

This is impossible!

"HA!"

With a yell the creature fired off a perfect Kamehameha wave towards the mighty Namek.

It's the real thing, Piccolo thought as he finally came to his senses and launched himself into the air.

DOOM!

With a loud explosion whatever remained of Leavenworth was completely destroyed and as below him a fireball raged Piccolo managed to keep himself just out of harm's way.

But this was exactly what the creature had intended as Piccolo suddenly found himself captured as the creature latched on to his back. Wrapping his arms and legs around the Namek he rendered Piccolo immobile.

"YOUR LIFE IS MINE!" it yelled, then its tail lashed out.

"NO!" Piccolo yelled as he tried to wrestle himself free. The creature's grip was strong. But Piccolo was stronger. Unfortunately for Piccolo not strong enough to break free in time, but enough for the tail's stinger to impale his left arm, instead of the chest to which the monster had aimed for.

"Crap!" the monster said slightly disappointed, "I was aiming for your chest. But this will do."

And then Piccolo felt a draining sensation, like his energy was like a bathtub of water and somebody had just pulled a plug. This is how Buffy must have felt when she got ambushed by Gero, Piccolo couldn't help but think as his very essence drained away.

Determined not to suffer a similar fate Piccolo called upon his last energy reserves and began to put up a struggle. He threw his head backwards, smashing the extremely heavy turban right into the creature's face.

That was enough to weaken the creature's hold on him and the Namek feel free towards the ground. Panting heavily he got a grip of himself and saw that his left arm hung beside him like a mummified husk, shrivelled and lifeless, from his shoulder. It was only through sheer luck and because he was still stronger then that thing that he had broken free.

Unfortunately now he was short an arm and that thing was undoubtedly transforming his stolen essence into new energy. Once that happened the difference between them would lessen considerably.

And the monster knew it.

"Even though you escaped you can no longer use that arm," it crowed with pleasure, "the tables have turned now."

Reaching for his injured arm Piccolo gritted his teeth.

"Yeah, I can feel that my balance is off as well," he grunted, "I don't think I can win this one any more."

"You've realized the futility of your position," the monster said triumphantly, "Good! Once I've added the remainder of your energy to my own I will be so much closer to perfection."

"Before you kill me, answer me this," Piccolo grunted, "Who are you? What are you? Why do I feel both Goku's and Freeza's chi from you? And how come you can do the Kamehameha?"

For a moment the monster looked indecisive, then he visibly relaxed a little.

"Alright, since you're going to die anyway," he said, "My name is Cell. I am an android. Created by Gero's computer."

Is there no end to these androids, Piccolo sighed inwardly, they just keep on coming! Then the monster continued.

"Long ago Gero decided to create the perfect fighting machine. By collecting the very DNA of his enemies and use to create the perfect biological android. Unfortunately that task proved too long for him and he left that task to his computer. And while he left to create other androids, Gero's computer continued the task Gero had created for it and find ways to fulfil its mission."

"It even began to collect new DNA samples. Like when you almost defeated Son Goku at the Budokai. Or when Radditz, Nappa and Vegeta came to Earth. More Saiyans followed but the computer decided it had more then enough Saiyan DNA already. So it took those of Freeza and his father instead."

"Then how were you able to collect that DNA?" Piccolo asked, still holding his lifeless arm, "We saw nobody collect any samples."

"The computer was clever," Cell said smug as he casually pointed over his shoulder to something in the air. It was tiny, so very tiny. But now that he knew where to look Piccolo noticed a tiny spec, almost like a common housefly, hovering next to Cell.

"It couldn't go out itself and Gero paid it no more attention, so it created this small drone instead. You probably mistook it for getting stung by a mosquito," Cell said, "It got samples wherever it could. Even now it's probably sending back data to the computer. It seems to find me most interesting."

For a moment Piccolo looked aghast, then he began to laugh. All that trouble, all that effort by Gero trying to find out what was going on, sending three of his android on a secret mission, when all he had to do was consult his own computer and learn what was going on. Now _that_ was irony.

Piccolo's laughter caused Cell to raise what had to pass for an eyebrow if he had one.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked both curious and weary.

"Nothing, you had to be there to get it," Piccolo said as he stopped laughing, then he used his good arm to fire a blast at the tiny spy robot and obliterated it.

"Destroying it won't do you no good," Cell said as he watched the tiny robot be destroyed, "by now the computer already has all the information it needs to create me. In 24 years time it will create me."

"I see," Piccolo said in a defeated tone of voice, "Then here's my final question, why come back at all? Why not fulfil your reign of terror in the future?"

"Simple," Cell shrugged, "In order for me to become perfect the computer told me I had to merge with more then just simple life essence. I need to join with two specific bodies. Androids #17 and #18."

"That makes no sense at all?" Piccolo said flabbergasted, to which Cell shrugged again.

"Ah well, what can I do about that? Don't blame me, blame the computer," Cell said offhand, "Somehow it found their power sources to be…. irresistible? And when I finally emerged both androids were nowhere to be found. I guess Trunks had killed them both. But fortunately for me Trunks also had a time machine and I guessed that if they weren't around in my present I might as well go look for them in the past. So I killed Trunks and came back here."

"Then why this time?" Piccolo asked, "Why not go back a single year?"

"Trunks set the controls for this time," Cell replied, "I guess he wanted to tell you guys of his success. All I did was add a few years just to be safe and push the button."

Then Cell leaned forward.

"Arch-Demon Piccolo, or whatever you are, the computer also told me this. Once I merge with both Android #17 and #18 I will become the most powerful being in all existence. I will become more powerful then either you or I can possibly imagine."

"For what?" Piccolo countered as he gripped his lifeless arm again, "What's the use for such ultimate power if you have no purpose?"

"Who cares?!" Cell waved dismissively, "Gero instructed the computer to make me as strong as possible. Or maybe its just the Saiyan's, Freeza's and your blood that's inside me that makes me want it. I don't care. I just want to be…., perfect!"

Piccolo closed his eyes for a moment, then he sighed.

"I see," he sighed, "Thank you for clearing up these mysteries."

And then Piccolo tore off his useless arm and dropped its lifeless husk to the ground. Then he yelled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

As he yelled a new arm shot out of his stump. Then Piccolo began to flex his newly regenerated arm.

"You've given me a lot to think about," Piccolo said as he began to smirk again.

"You….. you… you did that to m-make me talk?" Cell said aghast.

"Evil Overlord rule #6," Piccolo said calmly as he balled his new right fist, "I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them," Piccolo smirked, "You have my blood? Surely you should have known I could regenerate? And now that I know what you want I'm not going to let you become perfect. Even accounting for the energy in that one arm I'm still stronger then you."

"You're pretty smart," Cell said endorsing, "To pretend you had lost and get me to talk, buying you time. You used your evil wisdom against me."

"Actually, it's on the internet," Piccolo smirked, "the rest was Kami's idea."

"Kami?" Cell said astonished, then his face brightened up, "Of course, now I get it! You fused with Kami. That's why you're so strong. You're what happens when Kami the Guardian fuses with Piccolo the Arch-Demon. It was your appearance that had me fooled."

In a way this is great, Cell thought, no more Kami equals no more Dragonballs. Whoever's dead, stays dead!

Thinking he could put that to his advantage both he and Piccolo suddenly looked to the south. Four dots grew bigger in the distance until Cell could recognize them.

Well, that's Krillin, Cell thought. Nothing special. And that's Trunks. What's he doing here? He must have come here earlier with his time machine. But when? No matter. I killed him in the future, I will do so again.

But who in Gero's name are those other two?

x

* * *

x

When the four fighters came down towards Leavenworth they noticed that nothing remained of the town but a barren wasteland. And two tiny dots that grew into Piccolo and something else, something straight out of a nightmare.

"That's Piccolo alright," Krillin said as they slowed down, "But what's that other thing?"

"It has to be that thing from that egg," Trunks said.

"It kinda looks like that shell we found," Mayan added, then she looked over her shoulder towards Belmovekk. He seemed really freaked out. That freaked her out even more.

Meanwhile Belmovekk was too busy listening to his inner Goa'uld.

 _This is it, Saiyan,_ a voice similar to his own said, _it has finally shown his head. Anubis' vision. Anubis' vision has finally come to claim us all!_

 _He looks different though_ , Belmovekk thought back, _especially in his face. Different then from what you have shown me._

 _Does it even matter, Saiyan,_ Amūn's voice replied, _do not get lost in the details. This thing is here to consume us all. You have already sensed that it is strong enough to blow up this planet and cause your precious cosmic incident. You must destroy it lest it destroys us first!_

 _I do not know how,_ Belmovekk thought despairingly, _Not only is it much stronger then me. What if it kills me? What of the mission?_

 _Then use your brain,_ Amūn replied agitated, _a stronger opponent did not stop you from fighting the Majin. Think of something! Summon a demon for all I care._

As Belmovekk debated himself the four of them touched down behind Piccolo.

"Is that the thing that killed everybody in Leavenworth?" Krillin asked Piccolo.

"Yes," Piccolo said without taking his eyes off of Cell, "And be careful of the stinger on its tail, that's what he used on everyone."

"I see," Krillin said, "And how come we feel everyone's chi coming from him?"

"I'll tell you later," Piccolo said, "After I kill it."

"Kill me?" Cell snorted incredulously, "That won't be so easy."

"It spoke," Krillin said horrified as he stepped backwards.

"What makes you think you still have a snowball's chance in hell in this matter?" Piccolo said towards Cell.

"Yeah, you could say this is probably the right time for a retreat," Cell echoed as he cupped his chin and pretended to think.

"I won't let you," Piccolo said back, "Another Kamehameha won't phase me. The novelty's worn off."

"Kamehameha?" Krillin said astonished, "That's Goku's move. Can he do that?"

"I can do many things, Krillin," Cell said towards the little fighter, "If I have to I can even do the Genki Dami"

"What's the Genki Dami?" Mayan asked Trunks.

"Spirit bomb," Trunks replied, "Something that Gohan's father could do and he terribly wished that he could as well."

"Wow, you know my name?" Krillin said flabbergasted to Cell, "Goku will be so surprised when I tell him this?"

"Goku is still alive?" Cell said back surprised.

"Of course he is," Krillin said defiantly.

"Hmm," Cell said pretending to think, "Then I guess this timeline really has changed from the one I know."

Next thing Cell balled his fists.

"I WILL GET MY HANDS ON #17 AND #18," he shouted defiantly, "AND THEN I SHALL BECOME PERFECT!"

Next thing Cell brought his hands to the side of his face.

"TAIYO KEN!"

A massive wave of blinding white energy erupted from Cell, causing everybody to look away as they tried to shield their eyes.

"What the hell was that?" Mayan's voice called out in panic.

"Taiyo ken," Krillin's voice replied, "also known as solar flare. I should have brought Roshi's sunglasses with me."

"SHIT!" Piccolo yelled angrily, "He got away! Bastard used Tien's move."

"The Taiyo Ken's not that hard to do," Krillin said rubbing his eyes, "Goku can do it, even I used it occasionally."

"Trunks! Where are you?" Mayan said panicking as she held up her arms blindly.

"I'm here, my love," Trunks replied as he took hold of her hands, "I'm here."

"I can't see a thing," Mayan said.

"It will wear off," Krillin said.

Meanwhile Piccolo launched himself into the air to look for Cell.

"He's gone," Piccolo said angry, "Bastard's hidden his chi."

x

* * *

x

Somewhere amidst the forests at the foot of the Cascade mountains Cell ran as fast as he could. Taking huge leaps Cell was feeling pretty pleased with himself.

Idiots, he thought, soft idiots! As long as I lower my chi they'll never be able to find me. Meanwhile I'll keep on absorbing people until I'm strong enough to face #17 and #18. Plenty of small towns here to feast upon before Piccolo catches on to me. And this game of hide and seek will serve to…..

Before Cell could finish his train of thought he looked up and saw something come flying over.

It was Vegeta.

A Super Saiyan Vegeta.

"Vegeta hasn't been killed by #17 yet?" Cell said incredulously as he halted for a moment, "And so much more stronger then calculated. This timeline really has changed."

For a moment Cell paused completely, only following Vegeta with his eyes as he passed over. Then he began to run again.

"I'd better hurry."

x

* * *

x

Coming in fast Vegeta finally came close to the place where he had sensed the two big chi's fighting each other.

"One of them is gone," he said through gritted teeth, "the other's still there. Can't be that bitch #18. She's got no life force."

The reason Vegeta was so annoyed because he had sensed that both of big chi's had been bigger then his. Which after his recent beating was an even greater affront to his 'sensibilities'.

The affront was even bigger when he finally reached the battlefield and saw who it really was.

"Piccolo?" Vegeta said incredulously, "Impossible!"

Had the whole world gone mad?

Dropping out of Super Saiyan Vegeta came down and landed not far from a group that contained his future son.

Piccolo looked really annoyed and his mood didn't improve once he saw Vegeta.

"What's going on here?" Vegeta demanded to know. Instead Piccolo shot him a deathglare before looking away.

"We'll wait," the Namek said still irritated, "More are coming and I'm not going to tell this story a 2nd time."

"Tell me anyway," Vegeta said unimpressed by the Namek's demeanor, "How did you get this strong?"

"Piccolo fused with Kami," Krillin explained.

"What? Fused with Kami?" Vegeta said bewildered, "Just that?"

His power is now greater then mine, Vegeta thought as he felt anger rise inside him, a mere Namek is now stronger then me. Is there no end to my humiliation?

Meanwhile another newcomer arrived, it was Faith, fresh from the lookout.

"Jolly Green," she asked worried, "Are you alright?"

"I told you to stay at the lookout, Faith," Piccolo grunted as he turned his back towards her, "Why do you even have ears if you don't use them."

"But…." Faith tried to protest, but Piccolo walked away, passing Belmovekk in the process.

"You can have her back," he said gruffly, "She's your problem again."

Walking away from everybody Piccolo looked towards the west. Damn that Gero and his stupid androids. He should never have listened to Goku and wait for the androids to come. Maybe if he had helped Belmovekk instead they could have stopped this sorry mess from happening.

What am I supposed to do? Piccolo thought, as strong as I am I still can't defeat androids #16, #17 and #18. I have to stop Cell before he gets too strong.

"Ahem," a voice said behind him, it was Krillin, "Maybe you're still not ready, but we are. Tien has arrived."

x

* * *

x

Piccolo proceeded to tell them all what Cell had revealed to him. The fact that that thing was made out of the DNA of almost all of them was what came as the biggest shock to them all.

"So that's what's happened," Piccolo concluded, "In order to stop Cell from attaining his perfect form we'll either have to find and kill him, or destroy #17 and #18. It's one way or the other. And I don't think I can defeat those androids still. I guess I have to finish off Cell while I'm still stronger then he is."

Everybody began to talk through each other. Except for two persons. One of which was Vegeta.

They're all screwing with me, the Prince of all Saiyan thought, they've all become more powerful then the supposedly invincible Super Saiyan. We've become the joke of the universe. This pisses me off! Doesn't that piss off even you, Kakarot? Or you Movekk? Where is your Saiyan pride?

Enough! There came a time when a Saiyan had to make a stand.

They were babbling on about how the universe was in danger because it had Freeza's blood as well and how they should keep it separate from the androids.

Morons!

"He has my blood too," Vegeta spoke up, "You're all wasting your time here with this planning. I say let him gobble up those androids! As far as I care for it means less enemies to fight and more room to act. I don't care how strong my opponent is, I will find a way to kill him, or her, or whatever!"

"Don't be silly," Piccolo said condescending, "You were barely able to put a dent into #18 and she's much stronger then you are."

"I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU FUCKING BADMOUTH ME!" Vegeta yelled angrily, "Or do you want me to kill you all before I kill those androids!"

"I think you should take a chill pi…" Faith tried to say, but Vegeta glared at her angrily.

"Do something useful, Slayer whore," Vegeta sneered at her, "Like wrap your lips around some male genitalia. It's what you do best."

"Vegeta," Piccolo growled but Vegeta ignored the Namek

"I will surpass those androids," Vegeta continued, some of his former confidence seemingly returned, "No matter what. I'll even surpass Super Saiyan if I have too."

"Surpassing Super Saiyan?" Trunks asked incredulously, "Is that even possible ?"

"I know it is," Vegeta said as he began to smirk again, "And I know Kakarot does too. And if he has any brain cells left so does Movekk. I'm sure of it. Now you bastards can do whatever you want…."

And with that Vegeta launched himself into the air and disappeared.

"What does he mean, surpassing Super Saiyan?" Piccolo asked astonished.

As the debate raged on Mayan approached the only other person not to have said anything up till now.

"Why are you keeping quiet?" she asked Belmovekk.

"I will speak when I have something worthwhile to say, young lady," Belmovekk replied offhand, "Until then I shall keep my peace."

"I see," Mayan nodded, then she folded her hands across her chest, "You know, you're starting to disappoint me, father."

She put a little too much emphasis on the word father for comfort. Then she continued.

"You see, father, unlike boytoy's dad, who happens to be the world's biggest douche, I grew up in the belief that my father fell in the category 'crazy but still good'. That he would sacrifice himself if need be to save the ones he loved. But now I'm starting to think either Auntie Willow told me bullshit stories about my own father, or you, this version of you, that you're full of shit. You seem to be too willing to let others do the fighting for you. First us against the androids, and now Piccolo against Cell."

"I don't know what your particular game is, father, but either grow a pair or step aside and let real men handle the situation," she said as she took a step forward and snapped her fingers in his face, "So shape up!"

And with that she turned around and walked away.

"She has a point," Amūn said as he walked into Belmovekk field of vision, "You have been acting weird ever since you learned there was another time machine."

"I do not know," Belmovekk said as he stared ahead blankly, "Maybe I feel hesitant because I finally approach the end game of my mission. And everything up till now has been mere… child splay?"

"What? You're nervous?" Amūn said incredulously, "You charge headlong into the Majin, slaughter billions, but this…., this thing, it makes you nervous? What kind of Saiyan are you? I thought you people relished the chance of doing battle with a superior foe?"

"I do not know, alright?" Belmovekk said grumpy at his Goa'uld twin, "I feel like I am suddenly way over my head. I feel….. like I am going to die this time. That I'm going to fail my mission if I chose wrong."

"And finally the truth reveals itself," Amūn said shaking his head slowly, "The might Saiyan, disciple to Aldur, slayer of the Majin, destroyer of worlds, suddenly he feels like an old man. That he might die."

Sighing deeply the Goa'uld spectre turned his back towards the Saiyan and watched the others bicker and argue about what they were going to do next.

"Since I have come to know you, Saiyan, there has always been one guaranteed way to make you sit up and get going again," Amūn said solemnly, "I just had to point towards her and say: do it for her. And you would do it. You would fight the universe itself if need be. You would do unspeakable things. Things that even disgust my own kind. And you would do them all for her. And frankly, I still don't fully understand why, as you aren't even related to her."

The Goa'uld turned around and walked until he stood close behind Belmovekk. Then he gently pointed towards Mayan.

"She on the other hand _is_ your flesh and blood. Doesn't matter if she's from a different time and space, she is your kin. Look at her. You know part of what has happened to her. She has grown up without a father, without a mother, without hope. Despite her rough exterior underneath she is still a young girl desperately looking for a father figure, just as much as her half-sister is."

"She wants to have hope again, Saiyan," Amūn's now disembodied voice whispered in Belmovekk's ear, "She craves it. Needs it. She wants to look up to somebody again. Now, more then ever, do it."

"Do it, for her."

x

* * *

x

The mood was gloom in the briefing room at the SGC.

Maps of the North-Western United States were on every screen with large circles drawn around what used to be the little known town of Leavenworth. Sadly enough Leavenworth was now headline news on every news channel and/or network. Speculation was rife about what had happened there and for once Colonel Jack O'Neill was glad for the recent suicide bomber offensive. Both he and just about every known superior who knew the truth would rather have the media go rampant about terrorism rather then let it be known that some advanced biological android from the future had sucked the life out of everybody in that town.

They probably wouldn't even believe it if we did tell them the truth, Jack thought. Then again, if he didn't know what he did, would he?

As Hammond discussed what to do with several SG commanders and the commander of Fort Lewis, the biggest military base in the North-West, via teleconference O'Neill wandered off to the other side of the room, where Sam was staring at a large whiteboard listing various characteristics of this new android, this Cell.

"How on Earth can we stop something like this, major?" O'Neill sighed as he read out loud the various characteristics of Cell, "It's a glorified lifeforce sucking artificial vampire, it can regenerate lost limbs, divide itself up into separate clones, fly, rapid movement, and my personal favorite, unleash enough destructive energy to blow up this planet."

"It's an amalgam of the most powerful martial artists the galaxy has ever seen, sir," Carter replied studying the whiteboard, "It's brilliant. Gero took the strength of each and every one of his enemies. And then he used it against them. Be it with decades of time retardation."

"Not the fastest way of taking revenge though," O'Neill shrugged, "I mean, no wonder he began to build other robots instead."

"I wonder what his agenda was?" Daniel added as he shook his head, "It doesn't make any sense. At least the androids made sense. Built super robots to take care of a superior enemy. This… this thing, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

"Have you been on the same team as we are?" O'Neill asked as he gave Daniel a funny look, "How many times did we stop some Goa'uld only to learn he had some doomsday weapon as a backup plan? This Cell is clearly a doomsday weapon. To be unleashed when his other plans have failed."

"But if that were the case, why the need to merge with androids #17 and #18?" Daniel countered, "If they were still around to merge, wouldn't that indicate that his other plans didn't fail?"

"How the hell should I know?" O'Neill said as he threw his hands into the air, "The guy's a textbook supervillain. He should have his own James Bond movie. Supervillains don't act rationally. At least not our kind of rationality."

"Daniel Jackson has a point though," Teal'c remarked, "There is no rationality in usurping the instruments of your victory into a bigger weapon after you have won."

"I think it's irrelevant why he did it," Sam said as she looked over her shoulder to the others, "The why is not important as obviously Gero considered it important. Or should we say his computer did, as he seemed to have paid little oversight to it once he set it upon its mission."

"Or will be done," Daniel said, "in about 24 years time."

"Which makes it all the more important that we find his other laboratory," Sam said as she tapped the whiteboard, "Cause this thing came from another timeline. Another alternate reality. Which means that even if through sheer luck we manage to stop this thing now, in 24 years time the Cell of this reality will emerge."

"Oh Christ!" Jack muttered as he briefly facepalmed himself, "I really hate time travel."

"Carter is right," Teal'c added approvingly, "finding the laboratory not only makes sense in the long run, we might also find clues there as in how to defeat this Cell thing."

"I was going to say that next but Teal'c's right," Sam nodded, "the laboratory's going to be our best shot at finding ways to deal with this thing. If we could analyze the computer that built it, who knows what we could learn?"

"And where are we going to look for it?" O'Neill said somewhat sarcastically, "This was the guy who divided the secret of his whereabouts amongst three robots. Anyone who's that paranoid isn't going to leave a lot of clues as to where his other laboratory might be."

There was no countering that argument and everybody fell silent. On the other side of the room the discussion between Hammond and his SG commanders seemed to be heating up as they failed to come to come up with a strategy to deal with Cell.

"I suppose we might as well give Hammond a hand dealing with this thing," O'Neill said. He was about to turn around when Daniel spoke up.

"Wait a second!" he said, then turned towards Sam, "Sam, how cutting edge would you judge this Gero to be?"

"Uh," Sam said dumbfounded, "I'd say, um, pretty, uh, how can I put it?"

Sam reached for a magic marker and drew an X one side of the board.

"If our current state of technology is like, here," she said as she pointed with the marker to the X, "then his is about here."

Sam walked to the other side of the whiteboard, then beyond, and beyond, until she came upon the wall and drew a mark on there.

"Actually he'd be on the other side somewhere," she said as she put the cap back on the magic marker.

"That's so far beyond cutting edge he comes out somewhere in Razorville," Jack said.

Daniel put his two hands together as he faced Sam again as she walked back to the whiteboard.

"Sam, how big would you rate the chance that a genius, even one born in the 20th century, could come up with this kind of technology?"

Sam cupped her chin and stared at the ceiling. She tried to come up with a line of thought but for some reason every time she tried to speak she stopped, like she dismissed her reasoning and tried to come up with another. So Daniel spoke up instead.

"I mean, this is so, I don't know….," Daniel said as he waved towards the whiteboard, "…Einstein was a genius. Newton was a genius. They changed the way we look at the universe. But theirs was a radical new way of looking at things. This… it's akin to a caveman one day coming up with the designs to and then building the Deathstar."

"He's right," Sam nodded, "There should be no logical way for a man like Gero, no matter how much of a genius he was, to have come up with the things he did. He would have to totally revolutionize the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced cellular dynamics, advanced DNA recombination and advanced energy physics. All at the same time. Logic suggests he might be a genius in one of these fields, but not in all of them combined in equal measure."

"So what are you saying, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"What if, now bear with me," Daniel said as he walked towards a computer, "what if Dr. Gero didn't completely invent everything that he did. I'm not denying that he wasn't a genius, but what if his particular genius wasn't coming up with all sorts of radical advances in all sorts of sciences. What if his genius was in taking something which should have been so beyond our levels of technology and physics and managing to adapt it?"

As O'Neill looked totally flabbergasted and Teal'c raised an eyebrow, Sam on the other hand began to suddenly look very excited.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she said excitedly.

"That depends," Daniel said as he began to smile, then he used the computer to bring forth a map of Eastern Asia on one of the big screens.

"Can anyone please talk normal English?" O'Neill said somewhat irritated, "And explain it to me in ways I can understand."

"Daniel thinks Gero found a cache of Ancient technology," Sam said, "That he used that technology to create his own technology."

"Exactly!" Daniel smiled triumphantly.

"I see," Teal'c nodded approvingly, "That could explain many things."

"I so hate those damned Ancients and their leftover technology," Jack muttered, "Criminally negligent, that's what they are."

"It would explain the radical technology," Sam said towards Daniel, "but it still doesn't tell us where to look for any laboratory. It could be anywhere."

"It has to be somewhere in East-Asia," Daniel said pointing towards the map, "As Gero began building androids very early on in his career. Now, what if an Ancient came to Earth and lived among us primitive humans? Maybe he experimented on us? Wouldn't be the first time that it happened. And what if a young Gero happened to stumble on his laboratory. We know barring a brief university exchange that Gero mostly stayed in the Far East."

"It's still too much ground to cover, Daniel," Sam countered, but Daniel shook his head.

"What if that Ancient left his mark in legends?" he said, "There are literally dozens, no, hundreds of various legends and myths in Asian folklore regarding benevolent gods, guardian spirits and various other wise men who displayed feats that could be attributed to highly advanced technology. What if the source of one of these legends is that particular Ancient? It could at least give us a clue in which general direction to look."

Both Sam and Daniel looked hopeful at O'Neill. Who finally threw his hands into the air.

"Fine!" he sighed, "Go ahead! It's not like we have a whole lot of other options."

x

* * *

x

A Day + 6

x

Knock knock!

Looking up from his study desk Giles let out a small sigh of annoyance. Then he got and made for the front door.

As he opened it he found Belmovekk standing there. Looking a little too much forlorn for comfort.

"Master Giles, may I come in?" the Saiyan asked tentatively.

Oh boy! This didn't look good, Giles thought.

"Sure," Giles said as he stepped aside to let the Saiyan pass, "Can I get you something? Tea perhaps?"

"I would love that," the Saiyan said a little sullen as he stepped inside and made for the living room.

"Has there been any new, um, developments?" Giles asked as he entered the kitchen to make some tea.

"If you count two more depopulated villages as nothing, nothing much," the Saiyan sighed from the living room.

"Oh dear," Giles said aghast, then he poured water in his kettle, "That makes how many now?"

"Eight that we know off," Belmovekk's voice replied, "It drives Piccolo crazy."

"And the government I would imagine," Giles said as he put the kettle on the stove.

"Quite," the Saiyan replied, "Luckily Warleader Hammond has been stationing troops all over the North-West who are in constant communication with each other. The moment contact is lost with anyone Piccolo and Trunks go out and investigate. Unfortunately there are many isolated villages and hamlets out there and Cell seems to be able to find them faster then Hammond can send troops there."

"I can imagine the difficulty," Giles said as he took two large tea cups and his tin box with his special melange, "From what I take it's quite…, rugged out there."

"We are at ends, Master Giles," Belmovekk sighed, "I was hoping that maybe you found anything in the Gypsy Prophecies?"

"Unfortunately not," Giles sighed back as he put two small scoops of tea into each cup, then he closed the tin box and put it back in the cupboard, "I've been studying those damn prophecies for weeks now and found nothing. Only when I get the latest news do some of these prophecies actually start to make sense."

"Go figure," Belmovekk muttered, "leave it up to prophecies to be vague and useless till the last moment. These are the times I wish the Twins were here. They knew how to interpret prophecies alright."

As the water in the kettle began to boil, Giles turned the stove off and picked up the kettle to pour the water.

"Well, you have to excuse them," he said while pouring, "I don't think the Necessities are used to a future that is in flux. They too are now making it up as they go along."

"I have been known to make it all up as I go along as well," Belmovekk's voice said.

"No kidding," Giles replied as he picked up the two cups and made for the living room.

Only to almost drop his tea as he saw Belmovekk sitting on the sofa staring at a bottle of alcohol standing on the table in front of him.

"Good God, man!" he said aghast, "have you been drinking again?"

"Not yet," the Saiyan said shaking his head, "but I could _so_ use a stiff drink right now."

Putting a cup of tea in front of the Saiyan Giles then took away the bottle and took it to the kitchen. He opened it briefly to smell it, only to close it again, recoiling in horror. The smell was all too familiar. And strong enough to knock out a horse.

Returning to the living room he found another bottle, identical in every way, standing on the table. Shaking his head he took it, sat down on a chair and put it on the ground next to him.

"We are at ends, Master Giles," Belmovekk said as he picked up his cup of tea, then he added, "I am at ends."

"What do you want from me?" Giles said not sure what to say, "A way to kill that thing? It's not a demon from my books. Neither do the Prophecies yield any answers. We haven't heard from D'Hoffryn in months. Word on the street has it he has withdrawn all his demons to a different dimension. I can't help you, Belmovekk,"

"You and 6 billion others of your kind, Master Giles," Belmovekk said gloomily. Then he drank from his tea and fell silent for a while.

"Any word from Buffy?" Giles asked after a while.

"She and the others have left Kolkata," Belmovekk answered flatly, "They are going north. I expect them to cross over into China soon."

"I see," Giles nodded, then he did some mental calculations, "That means that soon they will reach Goku's home and find it empty. What happens if the androids don't find Goku?"

"They will probably start looking more actively," Belmovekk shrugged, "And if Piccolo has not found Cell by then, things will get very…., interesting?"

"I would imagine," Giles said as he took a small sip from his tea.

Another silence followed and Giles looked at the Saiyan. Something was obviously bugging him. Since he had come here to talk it might be best to grab the bull by the horn and release the inner Ripper.

"Belmovekk," he said tentatively, "what brings you here? While I can't help you with this Cell situation, maybe a willing ear could make the distance?"

Belmovekk didn't initially respond. Instead he finished his tea and put the cup on the table. The good host inside Giles wanted to go to the kitchen and refill his cup. The friend inside him feared that the moment he left another one of those ghastly bottles would make it onto the table.

Thinking about his dilemma Giles came to a conclusion. Reaching beside him he grabbed the previous bottle and put it on the table again.

"You obviously have need for this again," he said with a straight face, "Even though you promised you wouldn't. Maybe its for the best."

And with that Giles opened the bottle and poured some of the foul smelling liquor into the empty tea cup.

"Now, either get it over with and start drinking, or I throw it away and you start talking. Either way, hurry up cause I fear this foul liquid's dissolving the poor enamel of my good china."

For a moment nothing happened. Then Belmovekk reached out and took the cup. Looking briefly at the liquor he then put the cup against his lips and downed it in one go. Then he put the cup on the table. Giles re-opened the bottle and proceeded to refill the cup.

"No," Belmovekk said as he shook his head and held his hand above the empty tea cup to prevent Giles from pouring more alcohol, "While I may have broken my word already, I shall do so no more."

"So you're ready to talk now?" Giles asked as he put the cap on the bottle again and placed it beside him. Belmovekk nodded in reply.

"It is this Cell situation," he said leaning back in his chair, "It has finally happened. The great doom I was sent here to fight has arrived. The Enemy has finally played its hand. And yet, despite my best efforts I feel like I have no hand to counter Them. I feel like I have played my best hands before and are now left holding nothing when I need it the most."

The Saiyan slumped back with a look of defeat on his face.

"Before the purpose was clear," he continued, "Find Gero and stop the androids, protect my family, save Buffy. It all seemed….., natural. Now I feel like I wasted three of my years doing all sorts of things when I should have been doing something else."

"I see," Giles said as he reclined in his seat as well, then he took off his glasses and pulled forth a polishing cloth, "I..., um, I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I Master Giles," the Saiyan replied back.

"Do you regret having met us?" Giles asked, "Do you now think you would have been better off if you had never met us? Giving you the freedom to devote more time to your mission?"

The Saiyan glanced briefly at Giles, then he looked downcast.

"Yes," he said hesitantly, "part of me does regret it. Thinks..., no, believes that it has been too much of a distraction."

"I see," Giles said softly.

"Do not get me wrong, Master Giles," Belmovekk quickly said, "The bigger part of me does not regret it one bit! I love my newfound family, my children, my new friends, your friendship. Up here I know that I would not have gotten as far as I did with my search without all of you.

The Saiyan had pointed to his head, then he pointed to his stomach.

"But my gut instinct tells me that I should have spent these years differently. I talked to Trunks. He told me the other Belmovekk, from his future, that he did not spent nowhere near the time in Sunnydale as I did. That he searched the Earth way more then I did."

"I also talked to both him and your..., um, daughter," Giles countered, "and despite his extensive searching he uncovered nowhere near the amount of things you did."

"Maybe it was because unlike me, he did not know that the androids were coming," Belmovekk countered back, "Knowing something bad is going to happen is not the same as knowing what kind of bad is going to happen."

"True," Giles nodded, then he put his glasses back on, "Have I ever told you of my uncle Reginald?"

"I do not believe that you have," Belmovekk said a little puzzled.

Giles then stood up, walked to a bookshelf and pulled forth a photo album. Then he began to leaf through the album.

"Reginald was a bit the black sheep of the family," Giles said as he began to reminisce, "Where almost all men in the family end up serving in the Council, Reginald refused. After having gone to the best private schools in the country Reginald refused the call of the family patriarch to enlist with the Council. He was immediately disavowed by the family but he couldn't care less. I must confess he was a bit of a role model for me in my younger years."

Giles walked back and gave the photo album to Belmovekk, showing a picture of a young man, posing in an army uniform. The picture was an old one though, heavily faded, with also the pose and uniform of the man looking out of date.

"He became a warrior instead?" Belmovekk asked as he looked at Giles again.

"True," Giles said slightly saddened, "Reginald enlisted in the army with most of his friends after Germany invaded Belgium and Britain entered the Great War. This happened a lot back then, you must understand. It was considered a patriotic duty. Whole streets, school classes, factory workers, they all joined up and they were promised that they would serve together. They were called the New Army, or the Pals Battalions."

"For Reginald to join the army was considered the ultimate act of insult to the family. The family saw duty to the Council as its paramount responsibility. And something as low as duty to one's country as something for mere commoners. Something to be despised. It was said that the moment Reginald's father heard of that his son had enlisted he suffered a minor heart attack."

"This is all very interesting, but what does this ha….," Belmovekk tried to say but Giles silenced him.

"The Great War is considered the greatest tragedy that has befallen Britain in living memory," Giles continued, "Not only because of the massive amounts of casualties, but also because it robbed the country of a whole generation of its best and brightest. And the greatest tragedy of them all were the Pals Battalions."

"On the mourning of July 1st, 1916, uncle Reginald's battalion, of the 8th Norfolk regiment, left its trenches and advanced towards the German positions. The Germans had been blasted for 7 days straight by our artillery. The sound of which could be heard across the Channel even. After seven days British generals figured they had completely destroyed the Germans. So they gave the order to attack. The troops believed, especially those of the New Army, which still lacked combat experience, that this was going to be the great breakthrough. From here on to Berlin! One unit even decided that they were going to advance through no mans land whilst playing football!"

"Unfortunately for them the Germans had not been destroyed by our artillery. When the shooting stopped they came out of their bunkers, lined up their machineguns and began firing at those densely packed British formations. Such was the carnage that German machine gunners became so disgusted at the slaughter that they desperately pleaded to our soldiers to turn back."

Giles let out a deep sigh before continuing.

"Because of the Pals' Battalion system whole communities, villages or streets saw their men wiped out, making it one of the greatest social disasters in British history. The 8th Norfolk regiment was amongst one of the hardest hit. Of Reginald's group of friends only three survived that day, with only one surviving the Great War. They never found Reginald's body again, which wasn't that uncommon thing to happen. He's just one of those hundreds of thousands that have been swallowed up and were never seen again by the Western Front."

Giles fell silent for a moment as he briefly looked away.

"The moment my great grandfather heard that his son was killed on the Somme he didn't even blink an eye. He was said to have said that as far as he was concerned Reginald died years before when he first joined up with the army. He didn't even want to accept my uncle's personal belongings."

Giles took back the photo album and went to put it back onto its bookshelf.

"I'm sure you're wondering what this story has to do with you, Belmovekk," Giles asked.

"The thought did cross my mind," Belmovekk admitted.

"Truth be told, not much," Giles replied as he put the photo album back on its shelf, "Only to make a little more personal of what is considered to be a national tragedy. And that tragedy was the result of generals who were incapable of coming to terms with the new realities of modern warfare and that the old days of Napoleonic battles were over. Who continued to waste the lives of their men in the belief that if they were only firm just a bit more the other side was going to run out of men and bullets first. Only too late did they realize that what was needed was out of the box thinking instead."

"So you want me to use out of the box thinking instead?" Belmovekk protested, "That is funny because how can I use out of the box thinking when I am still unsure what kind of box I am dealing with!"

"How am I supposed to put it," Giles said unsure to himself, then he put his hands together, "What those Great War generals experienced can be considered as an outside context problem. It's the kind of problem most civilizations encounter only once and which they tend to encounter in the same way a sentence encounters a full stop. It's a problem these generals did not consider might happen, so they weren't mentally prepared to even acknowledge that it could happen."

"You told me that Saiyans in the mercenary service of Freeza laid waste to many worlds. Something they could do so fairly easy. Which means that to those worlds Saiyans were an outside context problem. Cell is now your outside context problem. You did not plan for it to happen because nobody, not even Trunks, knew it would happen. You could not have planned for it because it falls outside your scope of thinking that a crazy scientist who likes to build killer androids, would also commission some super computer to build the perfect doomsday weapon as well.

"Therefore no blame befalls you, Belmovekk. And I hope that in time you realize that what you need to defeat Cell is not some battle of attrition that sees everybody dead, but come up with creative thinking on your part. On everybody's part for that matter."

Giles had barely said that when suddenly Belmovekk's cell phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket Belmovekk replied and spoke briefly. Then he looked at Giles and held out the phone towards him.

"It is for you," he said, "it's the SGC. They want to talk to you."

"Me?" Giles said surprised as he tentatively took the phone.

"Hello?" he said, "Rupert Giles here."

Then Giles almost had a heart attack as he heard a voice he never, ever, expected to hear again.

"Hello, Dr. Giles, this is Daniel Jackson. Can I speak with you for a moment?:

x

* * *

x

A Day + 7

x

Sometimes life in the military felt like one big briefing, O'Neill thought as the SGC briefing room was full again. This time, besides the usual talking heads, that crazy Saiyan was also present. And he had taken two people with him.

One was introduced as Trunks, no last name. He was introduced as the Saiyan from the future who had given them the original warning in regards to the androids. And as if to illustrate his point he came with a huge sword strapped to his shoulder.

The other was a teenage girl. She looked like a spitting image to one Buffy Summers, bane of his existence, if she had black hair and a tail slung around her waist. She was introduced as Mayan Summers, also from the future. Which meant that she was probably the almost adult version of one of the Saiyan's kids. Now there's a dinner conversation at the Belmovekk household he would like to have been a fly on the wall too.

It also seemed clear the girl didn't actually like her father that much, as she always made sure Trunks was between them.

Wow! The various time paradoxes presented alone were such it almost had Sam cream in her pants.

Luckily for her Carter kept her focus on the task at hand.

Others showed less restraint and asked the twosome questions about the future. About the androids, Cell, and what kind of future had unfolded. O'Neill, and others for that matter, were shocked to learn that the future teens never had heard of anything remotely like the SGC. You'd think that when billions were dead, keeping the existence of its advanced alien weapons a secret wouldn't be an issue. But Trunks professed no knowledge of the SGC, nor weapons from space.

It was only when somebody asked if they knew if NORAD had survived, and the Cheyenne Mountain complex in particular that the girl said that this was a place nobody came too. That it was one of those places that the government, when there still was one, had used nuclear weapons to fight the androids.

That at least hinted at the possibility that there might have been an SGC and that they had fought the androids tooth and nail.

O'Neill stopped listening to further details about these kids' future. Not only because it was by now clear that it was the future of a different reality. But also because it seriously depressed the hell out of him. If he had been there, and he probably was, he hoped he had died in the nuclear inferno that was the SGC, rather then be forced to live in that particular future.

Eventually the novelty of their presence wore off and attention returned to what everybody had come for to begin with. The presentation of Sam and Daniel.

As he took hold of his microphone O'Neill couldn't help but be struck by how much Daniel had grown in confidence in conducting a public meeting. The Daniel that he had first met, before that faithful mission to Abydos was still a shy booksmart geek, who knew a lot, but often failed to convey that which he knew to a greater audience. Hell, any audience for that matter.

But over the years Daniel had grown in confidence, in no small doubt helped by the fact that a lot of what he previously believed to be true from academic study, was actually real.

That and once you faced untold Goa'uld and their assembled armies and fleets, speaking in front of an audience kinda lost its fear.

"After we formed the hypothesis that Gero 'adapted' some of his technology from Ancient technology that he found in some hidden cache or site, we then decided to look for such a place in various Asian myths and legends," Daniel said as a big screen showed a map of East-Asia.

"Isn't that a very big leap of faith?" a general asked but Daniel replied confidently.

"It's not like we had a whole lot of other options. And besides, not only the Goa'uld and Asgard have ended up in our myths and legends, so has the Ancient's city of Atlantis. There is established precedence for such things."

Daniel pressed a remote button and the map of Eastern Asia was scattered with tiny red dots.

"After making an initial survey of various myths and legends this was our first result. We searched for all sorts of places where advanced aliens could have ended up getting a place in local myths and legends."

"That's a lot of dots, Daniel," General Hammond remarked.

"We know, general," Daniel nodded.

"Surely this is a listing of every place where any Ancient could have been?" one general said, "Not places we actually have to go and look for?"

"Actually this is a listing of every place we should go to and explore," Daniel said absolutely stone faced, "If we included every possible place where an Ancient might have been half the map would be red."

A massive outbreak of gasps and talking erupted.

"Son," Hammond said as he silenced the room, "You do know its going to take us years to explore each and every site. We don't that amount of time."

"We know, sir," Sam spoke up, "We do know."

Daniel pressed the remote's button again and the number of dots diminished by half.

"We know there was no time to explore every possible location," Daniel said as he looked at the map, "so we used a computer program to eliminate all mentioning of possible gods, figuring an Ancient wouldn't try to hide himself using religion. On the downside this might exclude the possibility that Gero found a tech cache of Goa'uld origin. Like the tomb of the first Chinese emperor. Which I still think is a very strong possibility"

"That still leaves us an awful lot of possible sites, son," Hammond said.

"We further narrowed the field by profiling what kind of Ancient we would be dealing with," Sam said, "We think we're dealing with one who set up his own research laboratory and who kept to himself. One who would probably set up powerful automated defenses to keep outsiders away."

"The corresponding mythical profile would have to be that of a powerful wizard or wise man who is being protected by powerful spirits," Daniel said taking over again, "He wouldn't necessarily be evil, but neither would he be very cooperative or caring towards the locals."

Daniel pressed the button again and the number of red dots diminished further.

"I had to consult the world's most foremost expert on the occult for further eliminations," Daniel said as he briefly glanced at Belmovekk, then he pressed the button again and this time only six dots remained on the map, "And these are the places we consider the most likely places to be for any possible hidden Ancient technology cache."

As the room erupted in talk Belmovekk looked at the map again. He remembered Dr. Jackson's phone call, asking Master Giles which places he should ignore that were linked to an actual magic practitioner, human or demonic. And he was grateful that Dr. Jackson had decided to keep any mentioning of real magic a secret. It was still something that was considered by many as something that wasn't real. Better to gloss it over and to focus on the real issue instead.

As he looked at the most South-Easterly possible location Belmovekk couldn't help but chuckle as he realized which certain somebody was going to be saddled with the task of having to go there.

x

* * *

x

Looking at the Bindoon Training Area Riley really felt like he was smack in the middle of nowhere. The ass end of the world.

Even though he was only 52 miles from one of Australia's major cities, Perth.

Sent here of his own volition to train Australia's finest in the art of chi fighting Riley couldn't help but think that his continued presence was the fault of pissing off Satiya. He really felt out of the loop as everything around him went FUBAR. Hell, he hadn't even heard from Buffy in almost a week either.

And it wasn't like he had much to do to keep his mind occupied. Most of the Australian SAS, which used this base for training, had been redeployed elsewhere thanks to the suicide bomber offensive. And there had been talk of taking away his trainees as well. And without trainees to torment, what else was there to do in this godforsaken place but watch crappy Australian soap operas and American TV shows he had seen in America years earlier. That and drink lots of beer.

Luckily for him the number of daily attacks worldwide seemed to go down. Maybe Al Qa'ida had used up all its ammunition and he would get to keep his trainees. One of which seemed to be pissing him off right now.

"WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION?" Riley yelled at the luckless recruit who was puking his guts out, "You call that puke? I'm not even seeing chunks yet. Go back to the line and only come out when you have something to really puke about!"

Giving the soldier a kick in the ass for good measure Riley made sure the man made it back to the others. It wasn't that he relished being a bully, nor was the man unfit. On the contrary. As a member of the Australian SAS he was probably disgustingly fit.

But so was he when he had been trained by Satiya. He had always thought of himself of disgustingly fit. Until Satiya had pulled him through the wringer and showed otherwise. These men had to be taken to a new level of fitness and there was no time to take it slow. Now even more so then ever.

While he was taking care of business, a soldier came up to Riley. One of the staff sergeants of the Bindoon base.

"Telephone for you, sir," the Australian staff sergeant said as he handed Riley a cell phone. Part of the training regime included that they shouldn't be disturbed so even the trainers kept theirs in their lockers. Which meant that only in case of real emergencies…..

Fearing that something might be seriously wrong, especially a certain blonde he had feelings for, Riley took the phone a little more eager then he normally would. The conversation went on for a while, then he gave the phone back to the Australian staff sergeant.

"TROOPS, TRAINING IS OVER!" Riley yelled, much to the relief of the trainees. The sudden end of the training caused the other trainers to approach Riley.

"Is something wrong, sir?" a lieutenant of Korean descent, Parks, asked concerned.

"New orders, lieutenant," Riley said, "We're moving out."

"Where to, sir?" Lieutenant Parks asked.

"Bali."


	15. Interlude 'The Face of the Enemy'

**Interlude:**

' **The Face of the Enemy'**

x

x

AN: _You can still vote for Belmo in this years Crossing over Awards, best original character. So if you haven't already, make his day. ;)_

 _Also you can make my day by leaving me a comment. You know, those things authors crave like oxygen. And beer. And strip clubs. And…. Oops, I think I said enough._

x

AN2017: _Old news of course. Didn't make it. But if anyone wants to recommend my fics at TV Tropes fanfic recommendations, that would be awesome!_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 4 years, 2 months, 2 days, somewhere, sometime

Human population: 2.3 billion

x

A casual traveler might suspect that the town of Lakeview had been deserted long ago.

As he would pass through Center Street and look at the broken windows and weeds growing in places they shouldn't he would come to the conclusion that this was a ghost town.

As he would see the broken remains of town hall and many other important buildings he might even conclude that this was a place that had been cleansed of life by the androids long ago.

Nothing was further from the truth.

A more observant traveler would notice that there nearly wasn't enough rubble and signs of total neglect in the streets. That too many buildings were still left intact when they shouldn't.

Of course the biggest hint that something wasn't right was that the fields around the town showed every sign of being very well tilled and that crops were being grown.

It was of course all a giant ruse to conceal that people still lived here.

After the failure of the fortified city concept and the fall of governments people decided to take their chances and disperse to smaller, hidden communities. Some communities took to caves in the mountains. Others made their own caves, deep underground. And some resorted to elaborate camouflage.

No matter how they hid themselves, they all had one thing in common. They all still had to eat though.

So people still had to resort to farming.

Farming was now the most dangerous occupation in the world.

That and sentry duty.

The soil had to be taken care of, tilled and kept free from pests. Which meant that there always had to be some people nearby.

And if that wasn't dangerous already, there was still harvest time. When whole communities had to go out and brave android attack or face starvation. It was the most dangerous time in the year and the androids were known to wait until then to unleash a deadly harvest upon the world.

Frankly, despite the many lookouts, it was only made possible because of the Army's android detection system. And the Army was the only branch of government left that still functioned on a national level.

It was the triple tiered system of android detection system, radio broadcasts keeping tabs of every known movement by the androids and lookouts that enabled communities to grow food, harvest it and trade off any surpluses for much needed supplies.

Harvest time was still months away for the people that lived in Lakeview Oregon. And their underground shelters were well constructed. There had been no warning of any recent nearby android activity. So the people felt secure enough to go out and enjoy the fine summer weather.

Some were even using the old town swimming pool.

All in all it seemed safe to do so.

But sometimes however the androids fooled the android detection network.

Flying in low enough to use the natural inclination of the Earth so they wouldn't be picked up at the last possible moment. Or approaching using an opening in the network caused by natural obstacles. Like mountains.

And sometimes because they blew up some of the network radars.

Which they did a lot!

Any android detection system radar that the androids came across was an immediate high priority target for the androids. And while the Army always made sure to replace them, until that happened a hole existed in the network. And then radio reports and lookouts where all people had until the grid was restored again.

Today was not such a day it seemed. With no radar alerts or reports of any android activity in the area it therefore fell to the town's lookout in the church tower to be the town's last line of defense.

And unfortunately for both him and the townspeople of Riverview he was the first to die as a bolt of energy struck the church tower out of nowhere.

x

* * *

x

It was also one of the tragedies that had befallen the people of Earth that any report of a village, town or city by the androids also meant it was the last thing anyone would hear of them. The cry that they were under android attack wasn't meant as a call for help. None would ever materialize as the Army lacked any means to harm the androids.

It therefore only served to warn neighboring communities that the androids were in the area and that care had to be taken. It was the final act of community spirit by a dying community for the greater good.

So when Bulma Briefs heard on her radio that the town of Lakeview Oregon was under android attack it should have meant the end for the people of Lakeview.

Today was not going to be such a day however.

Today was the day Earth's new defenders would finally make a stand.

x

* * *

x

Only two things seemed to please #18, #17 thought as he watched his android sibling kill humans left and right in town. Shopping for new clothes and killing humans.

And the occasional pair of new shoes of course.

When they came upon a shop that still sold clothes she could actually combine her two favorite pastimes. First trying on every outfit in the store, then kill the shop owner once she had what she wanted.

It wasn't very sportive though, #17 thought. After all, if somebody gave you a stellar outfit, the least you could do was give them a heads start.

Nor did it show much common sense. After all, once you killed off every clothing store owner, where were you going to get new outfits?

In the end one had to take the long view in such matters. He knew it pissed off #18 no time that they hadn't killed off all of humanity already. And if they put their minds to it they surely could come up with a way of doing so in one fell stroke.

But other then as an academic exercise where was the fun in that?

Where was the fun in spending eternity on a planet devoid of anything fun to do?

He didn't even care about killing humans any more. Now that they had gone to ground it was more and more about trying to outwit them and their little stratagems then the actual killing itself. Even now, as they were slaughtering the people of Lakeview it was #18 who was doing most of the killing. In fact even now he was playing a game with #18 itself, as he was wondering when she'd realize that there were still some people hiding in the town's old swimming pool. And lots of young ones too!

Which meant that once #18 thought they had finished the job there would still be some people left to repopulate this place. Give them a few decades and they could return here to have some fun once more again.

One had to take the long view in the end.

"Are you going to do something too or do I have to do all the killing?" #18 asked after she killed another human.

"Just admiring the view," #17 smiled back at her.

"Less admiring, more killing," #18 snorted, then she blew away another building until nothing was left. Using her energy she then cleared away the rubble until she found what she was looking for. Yet another hidden trapdoor to an underground shelter.

"These people aren't very smart," she said as she ripped open the trapdoor, "Who's stupid enough to stay in their old town?"

"Sometimes hiding in the obvious place can be the smart place," #17 shrugged as #18 blew enough energy into the opening to actually make the ground bulge.

"Not this time," #18 said as she aimed her hand at another building.

But before could she fire off her deadly blast something crashed into her sideways. Something fast and carrying enough momentum to send her crashing into a building she had previously destroyed.

"That was unexpected," #17 said, more curious then alarmed. Hopping off from the piece of rubble he had been sitting on he tried to walk over to #18 when suddenly she emerged from the rubble.

But she wasn't alone!

She was fighting someone.

A blonde girl.

A blonde girl who put up one hell of a struggle.

The kind of which they hadn't seen in years.

"This may turn out to be a fun day after all," he said eagerly.

Then, like he felt something which he shouldn't he looked aside.

And began to smile.

"So you've _finally_ come out of hiding?"

x

* * *

x

Buffy threw everything into her fight with #18. And four years of continuous training had helped to turn her from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and not much of everything else, into Souped Up Buffy, wannabe Android Slayer.

But still very much a wannabe.

And she knew it.

Still, even in the role of a supporting cast member you could do a lot of things.

For one you could be the plucky sidekick who made the snarky comments.

But then again Xander had the snarky comment market cornered. She could still apply for the plucky sidekick part though.

Then there was the sidekick who usually got shafted but then, one day, would get her Crowning Moment of Awesome. That was awesome in itself, right?

The downside of course was that Crowning Moment of Awesome was usually followed by Permanent Case of Death.

Maybe Speedbump Girl was the better career move?

Speedbump Girl usually got her ass kicked. Again and again. But at least once she had fulfilled her purpose of slowing down evil the Hero ™ would take over and she could stand aside and live to become Cheerleader Girl.

Yeah that sounded about right, right now.

To bad their Hero ™ was busy fighting Evil Ken. Which meant that she would have to play the role of Speedbump Girl a little while longer. And since she could only delay Evil Barbie by having her Crowning Moment of Fatal Awesome she could really use some tag team relief right now, cause despite having trained her ass of for four years straight, Evil Barbie was really starting to kick her ass right now.

The answer came in the shape of a spinning kick to Evil Barbie's head that sent her to the floor.

"Tag," Xander grinned as he low fived her hand, then threw himself upon Evil Barbie. Giving Buffy a chance to catch her breath. Briefly she glanced at Gohan, who was now busy fighting Evil Ken. Then, taking another deep breath, she threw herself onto Evil Barbie again. Only by working together as a team did she and Xander stand any chance of keeping her separate from Evil Ken.

And give Gohan a chance to destroy Evil Ken.

x

* * *

x

"So you've _finally_ come out of hiding?" #17 had said as Gohan confronted him. Like he had been waiting for him to come. That made no sense, or did it?

Anyway, there is no place for anything else in combat but absolute, 100% dedication to the fight at hand. That's what his old teacher Piccolo had taught him, during that fateful year in the wilderness, now a lifetime ago.

"I'll show you hiding," Gohan hissed at the android, then he crossed his arms in front of his face, then threw them aside as he unleashed his power.

And transformed into a Super Saiyan.

"Now you're going to pay for all the lives you took," Gohan said as golden flames of chi blazed brightly around him.

But to his surprise Android #17 looked anything but stricken with fear. Instead he began to smile from ear to ear.

And then he said something which shocked Gohan to the core.

x

* * *

x

"All hail the conquering heroes," Bulma said as Gohan and the two Scoobies returned from battling the androids.

"Did you guys win?" Willow asked eagerly, but Bulma only needed to look at their faces to know that the androids were still going to cause problems for the foreseeable future.

"Well, only if you define winning as in making the androids wet themselves with laughter," Xander said tired as he touched his swollen left eye, "But hey, the good people of Lakeview get to live another day."

"Those that survived," Buffy said equally tired.

"I still need more training," Gohan said angry, above all with himself, "I'm not good enough. I'm still not good enough."

"Hey!" Buffy spoke up, "Don't go that way! We knew what we signed up for the moment we decided to go out there! There were no guarantees, there….., there are no guarantees."

She hesitated for a moment as she looked away.

"We saved some people today," she said softly, "Sometimes that's its own reward."

"Buffy's right," Xander echoed, "We kicked some ass today, and got kicked in the ass a lot in return. But some people are still alive because of it. So I count it as a victory as well. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to tend to my wounds, take a relaxing bubble bath and mentally scream away my pain in my mind."

The three fighters dispersed to their rooms, leaving Willow and Bulma behind.

''So it is a victory, right?" Willow asked, "They're still alive, those people are still alive."

Bulma didn't reply, causing Willow to look at her worriedly.

"Why aren't you speaking? I find your lack of speech worrisome."

"I don't have the heart to tell them," Bulma said as she shook her head dejected.

"Tell them what?"

"The radio," Bulma said dejected, "It was just on. The androids just hit Lakeview again. This time there are no survivors."


	16. Chapter Eight

**Chapter 8**

' **A Punch Up at the Wedding'**

x

x

AN: _He's still alive. And writing I might add. Just kidding! This chapter was finished ages ago. I just got side tracked by some real life concerns which I'm not going to bother you with. And after that my heart just wasn't into writing anymore for a long while. But now I'm back again. I'm not going to promise any regular updates, just…. expect them when you see them. ;)_

x

* * *

x

A Day + 8

x

"Damn reporters!" Sergeant-Major Burns muttered as he entered a tent, coming in from the almost constant North-Western rains. Pausing for a moment to grab himself a cup of coffee, then he moved on, past the map table and communication equipment that saw a constant stream of I Corps soldiers busy updating reports. Past two heavily armed soldiers guarding the entrance of an adjoining tent.

Inside this tent was only one occupant.

Piccolo, the Demon King.

As he preferred to be known in those fun and action packed days that once was the Battle of Sunnydale. Now almost a lifetime ago. These days though he only wanted to be called Piccolo and nothing else.

Piccolo had changed from the last time he had known him. And not just his even greater then usual not so sunny disposition.

As the alien fighter floated two feet above the ground, crouched down in his usual meditative position Burns couldn't help but be struck that something had changed inside him. Everything about the man (the jury was still out on his sex, but hey, this was the army, Don't Ask, Don't Tell) radiated power. And not just his usual command presence. We were talking about Satiya or Goku kind of power levels. The ones where you had a change of hair color and could rearrange the face of the earth. In a radius of a couple of Texas sized states that is.

It was clear the moment you came near him. Like you just felt static electricity build up by getting closer to him. And the dials of your watch started to spin around like crazy. And Burns had heard some of the I Corps techs complain that something was causing their sensitive electronics to do crazy stuff.

Whatever it was, it was something that Piccolo had acquired only recently because he was still very much unused to it. Burns wondered what it was that could power up a man to such extreme levels of power. Cause he sure could use some of it himself right now.

Burns liked Piccolo. Out of all the Z fighters and Scoobies he seemed to be the one with the best grasp in strategy and tactics. He'd always think fondly of Satiya and follow him into Hell if need be, but somehow Piccolo seemed to be the one who was smart enough to go in there and get you back out again. And in the army that was an ability that earned respect a lot. Officers like that were worth their weight in gold. Or in Piccolo's case their weight in shoulder pieces as his were heavy as fuck!

Piccolo hardly acknowledged his existence as Burn entered his tent. But Burns knew that was only a facade. Little escaped Piccolo's attention, even when he was deeply locked in meditation.

"We have a problem," Burns said as he took a sip from his coffee. Then he waited for Piccolo to acknowledge his existence.

"You lost track of Cell again?" Piccolo asked, upon which Burns shook his head.

"Worse," he said, "Some reporters managed to sneak into the quarantine zone. Reporters with cameras and satellite upload."

Burns downed the remainder of his cup in one go before continuing.

"Also reporters who managed to snag into the town of Alsea and managed to shoot some footage of you," Burns said and switched on the small television set that stood in the corner. No sooner did it come on as it showed footage of somebody walking through a deserted town, past more empty clothes strewn across the road. And even though the footage was taken from a great distance and very much grainy, to those who knew what to look for it was obviously Piccolo, with his characteristic white cape and turban.

"I'm afraid that if you're lucky you're going to be the next Bigfoot," Burns couldn't help but chuckle, "Although some pundits on Fox are making the link with Bin Laden because of your turban."

Piccolo seemed unimpressed as he closed his eyes again.

"This doesn't concern me," he said unperturbed, "I offered only to take care of Cell once you found him for me. All the fallout and public relations mess would be your problem. You don't want these reporters running around broadcasting everything to the world? Find them! Or disconnect them or something like that."

"It's not that easy," Burns countered, "contrary to what Hollywood wants everybody to believe we can't just flick a switch and silence reporters with their own satellite uplink. It's a commercial satellite."

"I could blow the offending satellite out of the sky for you?" Piccolo offered without looking up.

"Tempting," Burns nodded, "But I doubt that Washington would approve. Yet!"

"Suit yourself," Piccolo said, "In which case don't bother me again with this trifle until you've found Cell."

Switching off CNN's Terror in the North-West report Burns left Piccolo's inner sanctum and returned to their forward command center, where he found another one of Belmovekk's Bastards, Major Jamison, in heated argument with a general. Thinking it was best to keep out of Army politics Burns refilled his coffee cup and then made for the drizzling rain again. Making for another tent he found two more familiar faces.

The first was an old friend, another one of Belmovekk's Bastards. Sergeant-Major Commerford, formerly of Delta Force. Like Burns Commerford had been busy training many others in the art of chi combat. And like Burns, Mike C. was now at the forefront to find and contain this new deadly nemesis, Cell. Fully 2/3rds of every US chi trained soldier was now deployed to Operation Northern Exposure, as some funny guy in the Pentagon had labeled it.

And they said the Army had no sense of humor!

The other one was also from the days of the Battle of Sunnydale. A veteran if you could call her like that. And even though she was now technically one of the good guys Burns still refused to call her anything but Miss. He still couldn't bring himself to call the murderous bitch anything else, not even by her real name. There was never going to be any love lost between the two of them, even though these days he was able to be in the same room and talk to the murderous bitch.

Even though after each time of talking to Faith he felt the need to take a shower and apply some industrial strength soap.

"Any news?" Mike C. asked, to which Burns shook his head.

"Nothing," he said, then he nodded towards Faith, "except for her sugar daddy now being on primetime news as the new Sasquatch."

"Piccolo got filmed?" Mike C. said incredulously, then he began to laugh.

"It's not funny," Faith said defensively.

"It is from where I'm sitting," Mike C. retorted as he grinned from ear to ear

"For once she's right," Burns said, "There are some reporters in the quarantine zone."

Then Burns tapped Mike C's chest as he began to grin.

"And guess who just got volunteered to find them?"

x

x

It was amazing that aside from having the biggest pantry outside of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier the Son Goku household looked so…., unimposing? It looked so ordinary. Aside from it being right in the smack middle of nowhere the inside looked just like any other regular family home.

Android #17 stood in the living room of Goku's home and eyed some of the various objects. Many seemed so…., ordinary? It was hard to imagine that Dr. Gero's greatest enemy lived in a place like this. You'd at least expect the place to look more like Superman's Hidden Fortress of Solitude.

There were photographs hanging from walls, standing in frames and #17 eyed them intently. As if in trying to learn more about this adversary from whatever subtle hints he could learn from them.

Many of the pictures were photographs of Goku's son. Others were of his wife. Few, if any, were from Goku, so #17 assumed that Goku had been the one taking most of them. If so the Saiyan must have a talent for taking pictures as #17 judged them to be aesthetically pleasing. The man had an obvious eye for composition.

While most pictures were family pictures, 1 in 5 showed Goku's friends. And as he got older there were more and more of them in them. One interested #17 in particular. It looked like a very recent one and showed Goku and almost all of his friends in what appeared to be the aftermath of a very strenuous battle, as almost everybody looked worse for wear.

There were others in the picture though. Some of which #17 by now recognized, others he didn't.

"Is that Alex and Anne?" the voice of #18 asked behind.

"It looks so," #17 replied without looking back, "and I think I saw that Saiyan looking guy in a wheelchair also at the laboratory."

"That girl with the red hair was also there," #18 added, "But I don't recognize those men with the glasses."

"Or those soldiers," #17 nodded, then he looked over his shoulder, "There are no records of Goku ever having worked with governments."

"There are many things we don't know," #18 shrugged, "Upstairs is empty by the way."

#17 stopped his examination of the picture and glanced around briefly.

"I figured as much," he said appraisingly.

"They must have moved him," #18 stated matter of fact, "By the looks of it they left in a hurry."

"I suppose," #17 said as he briefly bit his lip, then he folded his arms across his chest, "We gave them plenty of time to do so."

"What now?" #18 asked, "Are we going to drive on forever or are we going to get some answers from Anne and Alex?"

"That seems harsh," #17 countered, "I thought you liked them?"

#18 shrugged indifferent.

"Liking them or not has nothing to do with fulfilling our objective," she said, "The sooner we fulfill our objective, the sooner we will be free."

#17 eyed his sibling for a moment. That was one thing the both of them remembered, or somehow still knew. Despite being completely mindwiped by Gero they still knew that somehow they were biologically related. And somehow #17 also knew that his sister was way more single-minded then he was. She was desperate to fulfill her objective so she could be free from Gero's foul programming.

#17 briefly glanced outside through one of the windows, where #16 stood leaning against the van that had been their constant travelling companion these past days. Together with these so-called tourists, Alex and Anne. Traveling all the way through India and now China until they had arrived at their final destination. It had been a fun ride and #17 had enjoyed himself immensely. And somehow he knew that the journey would have been nowhere near as entertaining without them.

But while he liked Anne and Alex, all things came to an end eventually Android #17 knew that this particular journey was now at an end. The time had come to drop the charade and get down to business. Which meant that it was now time to interrogate Anne and Alex and get them to start talking. Preferably about where Son Goku was. But anything else they could wring from them would also be welcome.

"Let's do it then," #17 nodded in agreement and the two of them made for the exit of the Son family home.

x

* * *

x

Outside by the car Android #16 stood by and watched contently as some birds were sitting on the branch of a nearby tree. He knew that most people paid little attention to the small wildlife that lived around them. His present company included.

But he didn't really mind. All the more fun for him as far as he was concerned. He could spent an eternity watching the various small animals go about their business. And thanks to his infinite energy reactor he actually could. So with eternity literally at his fingertips what did he care about the opinions of those who wouldn't even be around for a fraction of that time?

He didn't mind his present company though. Even if they were loud, brash and technically the enemy.

But #16 had no real enemies, other then Son Goku. And that was just because of Gero's programming.

Despite their efforts to conceal it, #16 knew that Anne and Alex were way stronger then ordinary humans should have been. Not even Goku's allies should have been this strong according to his data. But #16 had surmised that a lot of things that Gero had calculated upon didn't turn out as he had expected.

One thing didn't lie though, and that was the energy detector that Gero had installed inside him. That was how #16 knew that Anne and Alex were way stronger then they should have been, even if they did suppress most of their inner strength. The girl in particular was absurdly strong. Again, for a mere human. Of course she was no mere human. He had figured that out as well.

He knew that by now everybody took him a little for granted as being a bit of a simpleton. And to be honest, he didn't mind that. Despite that they weren't being insulting towards him. And it did offer him some helpful insights as both #17 and #18, as Anne and Alex lowered their guards around him. Thinking he was far too busy observing all sorts of small wildlife.

But he could do that with only 12% of his computational abilities dedicated to that. Fully 40% however was dedicated to playing various sorts of wargames and probability scenarios in how to defeat Son Goku. As by Gero's original instructions. And boy, did he need to take into account all the various differences from observed behavior, tactics and strength from Goku's friends that weren't anywhere like those stated in the files he had been given by Dr. Gero. Add in 8% to run various diagnostics and maintenance cycles.

That still left 40% free devoted to keeping an eye on things that were happening around him. And Dr. Gero had given him a very good set of ears as well.

Which was what he was using to keep tabs on both his fellow androids and Anne and Alex. He knew that soon #17 and #18 would leave Goku's home looking for answers. And he also knew that both Anne and Alex, or Buffy and Xander as they sometimes referred to themselves when they thought nobody was listening, that they both knew that something like that was going to happen. Which made them understandably nervous.

Anne in particular seemed to be fumbling a small amulet that hung around her neck a lot. Like it gave her comfort. #16 didn't give it much thought. If there was one thing he had learned during their odd journey together it was that humans did odd things for comfort.

Alex on the other hand looked much more relaxed. But a body scan revealed that his heart rate was elevated and that his muscles were tensed. He expected trouble to arise at any moment.

Which it was in a way, as soon as #17 and #18 would come from Son Goku's house. It would be the end of their journey together. And that saddened #16 greatly.

So #16 stopped looking at the birds and turned towards Anne and Alex.

"I really enjoyed spending time with you guys," he said in earnest, "Thank you for the good times."

Anne and Alex looked unsure as they didn't seem to know what to do with this unexpected compliment coming their way.

"Uh, thanks?" Alex said unsure.

"I think it might be best if you leave now," #16 said, his eyes glancing briefly towards the Son house, "I can't guarantee what will….."

#16 got interrupted as the doors to the Son house opened and the two other androids emerged.

"Anne, Alex," #17 said as he extended his arms like in some cheerful hug, "it would seem that we have come upon a crossroads in our journey together."

"What kind of?" Anne asked as her eyes followed #18 who positioned herself behind them.

"The kind where we must play a different game," #17 said somewhat ruefully, "the kind where we ask questions and you provide us with answers. Sometimes at the expense of great personal discomfort."

"I've heard of that game," Alex said, "In fact I played that particular game in a place called Mang. Didn't really like it then, probably won't now either."

"Then maybe we don't have to play this game for long," #17 smiled amiably, "I'm perfectly willing to propose some additional alternatives. If you're lucky I'll pick one that doesn't involve massive amounts of discomfort."

"This still kinda sucks," Alex replied, to which #17 shrugged.

"Yeah, I suppose it does," he said, "But you have to remember Alex, it only sucks for you."

"Oh, for goodness sakes, #17," Android #18 exclaimed in disgust, "For once can we get on with it?"

#17 shot an angry look at his sibling android.

"Why do you always have to take away my fun?" he asked annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," #18 said anything but sorry, "Did I ruin your exchange of witty banter? Have you ever thought it might be because I want to get this stupid mission over with? Like in yesterday?"

"Women," #17 snorted, then he turned his attention back to Anne and Alex, "As you can see #18 is getting a little impatient. So let's get started shall we? And remember, even though it will probably hurt a lot, in a way it will hurt for me as well. Although admittedly not as much as it will for you."

"You don't have to do this," Anne said as #17 took a step towards them, "You could just ask."

"I suppose I could," #17 nodded as he halted, then he smiled again, "But first we would have to establish a common base of reference. In this case the amount of pain you would feel every time you would give me the wrong answer. Without a common base of reference there can be no discussion, wouldn't you agree?"

Then #17 leaned forward towards Anne.

"And I for one know that you have been keeping secrets from me, Anne," he smiled, "You're not a normal girl."

"And you are?" Anne retorted. Then she yanked the amulet from her neck and squashed it.

POOF!

Suddenly they were all enveloped in a large white cloud blurring all vision, causing #17 and #18 to jump back.

"Make sure they don't escape," #17 yelled towards #18.

Making sure the two wouldn't use this diversion to escape Android #17 began to use his energy to generate wind and evaporate the cloud. As it evaporated it showed the van, a bored looking #16 and #18 at the other end. But Anne and Alex were both gone.

"You let them get away!" Android #17 said angrily towards #18.

"I did not," #18 said equally angry back, "Maybe if you hadn't been so busy playing games we would have had our answers by now."

Knowing that Android #16 could detect energy #17 turned towards #16.

"#16, where did they go?" he asked the big android, "Where are they?"

For a moment it looked like #16 wouldn't answer, then he pointed over the van towards the South-East.

"They are that way," he said calmly.

"Let's get them," #17 said grimly towards #18, "We're faster then they are."

They were about to take off when #16 spoke again.

"They are 1200 miles in that direction. You won't catch them."

"1200 miles?" Android #17 exclaimed in shock, "There is no way…., how could they…"

"That's impossible," Android #18 said equally flabbergasted.

"One second they were here, the next they were there," Android #16 shrugged indifferent.

"They must have teleported," #18 said towards #17, "But how…."

"It doesn't matter," #17 said as he cupped his chin and began to think, "It happened. What matters now is what we're going to do now."

#17 turned to #16.

"Since you have a detector, can you detect where Goku is?"

"I cannot," the big android said shaking his head, "I can't detect his life signature anywhere."

"Since the house looks like they left in a hurry they must have hidden him somewhere," #18 said, "Do you have any idea where they could have taken him?"

"Most likely his allies," Android #16 said, "Master Roshi's island near Hawaii or Capsule Corp. near San Francisco."

"See?" Android #17 smiled as he looked at his sibling, "It still works out in the end."

x

* * *

x

Damn! Piccolo flew fast, Burns thought as he and a platoon of chi trained soldiers trailed after Piccolo through the skies over Washington state. And he knew it was fast because he could see that even the murderous bitch was having problems keeping up with the green Namek.

Another alarm had been raised, this time at the far northern edge of the quarantine zone, the town of Maple Falls, from which all communications had ceased. Which by now meant Cell was gorging itself upon the inhabitants. It was also one of the largest towns that thing had attacked so far. Which could mean only two things. Either that thing was getting cocky now. He might even have surpassed Piccolo by now. Or it was a trap.

Or both...

Coming in low Piccolo dove towards the center of the town of Maple Falls, soon followed by Faith who rushed to his side. Burns and the other soldiers dispersed into smaller groups and came down around the town. Somebody had to seal it off to prevent Cell from escaping if he was still in there.

Landing with three other soldiers on route 542 Burns discovered an abandoned Stryker armored personnel carrier lying beside the road. I Corps had stationed these all over the Washington state quarantine zone in an attempt to provide communities with a means to call for help in case Cell attacked. Of course if Cell did attack, the poor sods manning the Stryker had no more chance to survive then the people did.

And by the looks of it they had tried to flee the town before Cell had put a stop to it. Empty clothes and uniforms lay all in and around the APC, the backside hatch being cleanly ripped off.

"Poor bastards," one of the soldiers said, "They had no chance whatsoever."

"And how much chance do you think we will have once that thing comes our way?" another soldier said.

"Can it!" Burns snapped, that kind talk had to be nipped in the bud, "We only have to delay that thing before our ally comes to our aid."

The soldiers kept silent from that moment on. But Burns couldn't help but think that the only way for them to delay Cell was by letting it kill them. They were so hopelessly outclassed it wasn't funny anymore.

x

* * *

x

From a sizeable pocket of forest to the north of Burns' position Cell watched on with keen interest as he saw Piccolo and the others descent on the town he had just sucked dry.

While Piccolo didn't really concern him, these chi trained soldiers did. That was another thing he didn't expect coming to the past. Something had seriously altered the past from the one that he had known. So much so that now he came to think of it he wasn't in the past at all, but in some alternate reality. There were no chi trained soldiers in his reality, but obviously here there were.

It should have worried him, but it didn't. And for two reasons. First because if he was indeed in some alternate reality it meant he could do whatever he wanted and not be concerned about creating some giant grandfather paradox. He could blow up this planet for all he cared and not be concerned that in doing so he would disrupt his own future creation.

And secondly those chi trained soldiers made for some mighty tasty treat as by now he knew from first hand experience.

For a moment Cell debated with himself if he should go after the soldiers. But in the end he decided not to. Piccolo was too close and he still didn't think he was strong enough to take on Piccolo.

So instead Cell turned around and faced his captives. When he came upon this town to his delight he had found a vehicle with reporters in it. He almost thought of killing them with the rest of the town's inhabitants when he thought of something even better.

He would grant them an interview.

x

* * *

x

God bless our kind green God, Buffy thought as the smoke cleared and both she and Xander were now somewhere completely else and no longer in front of two crazed androids about to torture them.

And god bless Willow too of course for having given her that amulet that allowed for the creation of that magical emergency escape portal through which the two of them had been able to beat that hasty retreat.

"Remind me to kiss Willow once we get back," Xander said relieved as the smoke cleared, "I'm so going to kiss her so hard in front of everybody it will drive out the ghey out of her."

"I'm pretty sure Tara will have something to say about that," Buffy chuckled, "Even if it will make Belmo ecstatic if you manage to do that."

"They can both kiss my shiny heiny for all I care," Xander said as he let out a sigh of relief, then he looked around, "Although right now, grateful for the hasty retreat, I'm kinda more concerned where the hell we are now."

They seemed to have emerged right in the middle of some kind of tropical jungle. Next thing as they tried to get their bearings they heard something approach through the jungle. Something large.

As they stood back to back that something suddenly came through the jungle and looked at them. It was an orang-utan ape, staring curiously at them for a moment, before going on about its business.

"Hey look, it's Clyde," Xander joked as he pointed at the ape, then he looked at the two of them and grinned, "Does that mean I'm now Philo Beddoe and you're now Lynn Halsey-Taylor?"

"You really watch too much television," Buffy said shaking her head, then she thumbed his chest, "And the way I remember it she cheated on him, stealing his money. And you don't want to hear me sing either."

"Can't say I cared much for her singing voice either," Xander said as his face turned serious for a moment, then began to grin again, "Hey, but she did fall in love with him again in Any Which Way You Can."

"You're incorrigible," Buffy said as she reached out and tried to hit him on the head, a move which he easily evaded.

"I try to be," Xander smiled, causing Buffy to smile as well. It was good to see her friend exhibit more of his old carefree behavior. Being away from Sunnydale agreed with him. Even if it did bring out the stupid in him.

"But where the hell are we?" Buffy said as she looked around.

"A jungle," Xander said deadpan, causing Buffy to again aim and miss for his head, "What?"

"I can do without smartass Xander and could do with some helpful Xander," Buffy said quasi-annoyed, "For all we know we're somewhere in the Amazon."

"Doubtful," Xander shrugged, "My guess, we're somewhere in Indonesia."

"What makes you think that?" Buffy asked.

"Clyde did," Xander said as he pointed to the direction the orang-utan had disappeared into, "They don't live in the Amazon."

"Since when do you watch Animal Planet?" Buffy asked as she raised an eyebrow, "It has no space ships or hot alien chicks."

"Willow hooked me up with the internet," Xander said, "And the internet says orang-utans live in Indonesia and…., what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You actually did it, didn't you?" Buffy said as she put on her 'what the f***' face, "You actually Googled all your favorite movies. That's how you know."

Xander wanted to say something, then he decided not to and put on his injured pride face.

"Not my fault information is like kryptonite to you Slayers," he muttered quasi-hurtful.

Buffy looked at him one more time, then she sighed.

"Fine, we're now somewhere in Indonesia," she said, "What now?"

"You do know where that is, do you?" Xander asked deadpan.

"Yeah, I know where that is," Buffy replied annoyed.

"Alright, just checkin'," Xander said as he began to grin again, "Cause I do remember a lot of talk about Owen this and Owen that, and how sweat Owen was during Geography class. And not a whole lot of paying attention to what the teacher was saying."

"I'm not stupid!" Buffy said defensively, "I did pay attention in class. Indonesia is that country that's next to Guata-something and…, wait, or was it New Something Something? I could have sworn it was next to…., Xander, quit laughing!"

"Who me?" Xander said as he almost fell to the ground laughing.

"I'm not stupid!" Buffy yelled.

"Of course you're not, Buff," Xander laughed, "It's still funny though. Indonesia is that large group of islands between Asia and Australia."

"That was my next answer," Buffy snorted softly, then she folded her arms across her chest, "Anyway, who needs to know that kind of stuff anyway."

"Apparently we do," Xander said straight faced, "right now."

Buffy wanted to give him another death glare, then her face lit up.

"Riley's in Australia," she said as she closed her eyes and extended her senses. For a moment she said nothing as she tried to locate her boyfriend.

"Something's wrong," she suddenly said.

"What?" Xander asked curiously.

"Either Australia's a whole lot closer then I thought, or Riley's not that far from us," Buffy said as she pointed straight down south."

Opening her eyes she looked at Xander.

"We should go there."

"We might just as well," Xander shrugged, "Can't think of any reason why we should stay here."

Before they left Xander turned one last time towards where the orang-utan had disappeared and grinned.

"Right turn, Clyde!"

x

* * *

x

"This is a CNN special report," the CNN anchor spoke excitedly into the camera. And with it to millions of TV screens worldwide. A number that would probably go up by a billion once this report hit audiences all over the world.

"We are interrupted our regular coverage to go to special reporter Greg Burdette, who is in the Washington State quarantine zone," the CNN anchor spoke and a grainy screen within the screen appeared next to the CNN anchor, "Live via satellite, hello Greg, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, Bernard," a man on the grainy image said, as he used one hand to hold a microphone and the other to hold on to a hat, I am Greg Burdette, I'm reporting live from some undisclosed location inside the Washington State quarantine zone."

"The military wants you to believe that an Al-Qa'ida cell has infiltrated the US and is causing havoc with all sorts of bio weapons in this zone but this couldn't be further from the truth. Over the course of our investigation we have encountered many towns and villages that were completely empty and devoid of life. As in the original radio report we found only empty clothes of people who have vanished into thin air. And signs of the military as they went out of their way to cover things up. Whatever is going on, they do not want you to know."

Another small window opened on the screen, pushing Bernard Shaw aside showing of images of an empty village, clothes strewn across the ground, then came scenes of a figure, dressed in white as he walked through an abandoned street shot from a great distance. Then that window disappeared and Bernard Shaw could be seen again, listening to Greg talking.

"I now have exclusive proof, Bernard, who is responsible for all the people who have disappeared here in the North-West," Greg Burdette said as his camera man zoomed out. As he did a large creature became visible, standing right next to Greg. The creature looked like a bizarre crossover between an insect and a reptile, it's green skin covered in black patches, with two large chitin wings hanging from its back and a large V shaped plate adorning its head. As the creature became visible CNN directors enlarged the window until it filled the entire television screen, blotting out anchorman Bernard Shaw.

"My name is Cell," the creature said in a voice that sounded surprisingly human as Greg Burdette held out his microphone towards the creature, "And I am responsible for all the people that have been killed here. I killed them. I took their essence and added them to my own."

"Can you tell us something about yourself," Greg Burdette asked.

"Off course I can," Cell said as he folded his arms across his chest, "Contrary to what you people might think as you see me I'm not from outer space. I was created right here on Earth."

"Created you say?" Greg Burdette asked.

"Of course," Cell said matter of fact, "I was created by the greatest scientific genius this world has ever seen, Dr. Gero. I am a biological android."

"Created for what purpose?" Greg asked.

"Why, to be the world's most strongest warrior ever, no, to be the strongest warrior in this galaxy, period."

"But to what end?" Greg Burdette asked Cell.

"Does it really matter?," Cell shrugged, "Isn't striving to become perfect the one goal all living things share? The people I consumed should count themselves fortunate that they are now all part of the most perfect creation this world has ever seen."

"But how did you….., Oh!" Greg tried to say, then his eyes grew big.

"Does it really matter?" Cell again said as he began to smirk, then he looked directly into the camera, "People of Earth, your time has come one way or the other. Pray to whatever God or Flying Spaghetti Monster that you worship, spend your last days together. For I am Cell."

Beside Cell Greg Burdette's face began to contort into a ghastly grin so Cell reached out and took the microphone from him as Greg began to whither and shrivel inside his clothes.

"Once I become perfect I shall destroy this planet and everybody on it. And then I shall consume the galaxy until only perfection shall have its place. So pray that you may end up a part of me so you can live on. Inside perfection."

Nothing remained of Greg Burdette by now except an empty set of clothes, which Cell let drop to the ground, revealing a tail with a sharp needle like spike at the end of it. Then the tail moved and struck towards the camera, hitting somewhere below the camera's field of vision.

For a moment nothing happened, then the view began to shake as if the camera man was losing control. Next thing the camera fell to the ground, showing only a pair of three toed feet. This continued for a moment, then the feet walked away.

x

* * *

x

In the SGC control room General Hammond slumped back in defeat in his chair after he had ordered Walters to turn the television. As he just sat there everybody in the control room looked at their general, to see what would happen next.

Standing close to the general O'Neill looked around as well. It wasn't every day that the world's latest nemesis announced his intentions live on television. And somehow he couldn't help but be struck by the idea that this was somehow unavoidable. They had a good run covering things up so far, unfortunately it was bound to go wrong at some point. And this was it. Game over.

Before he could make a clever remark the phone rang and Walters picked it up. Then he held out the horn towards General Hammond.

"It's the President, sir."

x

* * *

x

Find some hidden temple!

That's what they had told him, Riley thought as he and his fellow instructors examined yet another temple on the island of Bali.

They just forgot to tell him there were some 20.000 of them on the island. And that was excluding the ones that were built on rocks in the surrounding sea..

Luckily the clever boffins at the SGC had narrowed the list down to a more manageable 25. Which was still 24 too many.

So now Riley and his instructors found themselves outside temple number 14 looking for some hidden secret laboratory. Something which Riley thought was a wild goose chase. With no means to detect anything hidden other then the mark 1 eyeball they might as well have kept him in Australia and determined which location to examine using dice and Ouija boards back home. Cause lets face it, if something had remained hidden for 2000 or more years, chances are the old mark 1 eyeball wasn't going to detect it either.

"This is stupid," one of the men complained. Before Riley could clamp down Lieutenant Park responded.

"This is the army, corporal. It doesn't do anything but crazy. Now shut up and search!"

Nodding approvingly to the lieutenant Riley continued his search. Now suppose it was me, he thought, where would I hide my entrance? The obvious place was the inner sanctum. But that one still saw regular use as the smattering of small sacrifices and incense indicated. So how much would that be a hindrance?

Probably a lot!

So where else might I hide my hidden entrance? Somewhere in the back? And where the hell was the back in this thing? Cursing inwardly that the powers that be back at the SGC didn't provide him with maps Riley passed another soldier.

"You know, sir, easiest thing to do would be to just blow this place up," the soldier said frustrated, "And if we don't find anything that's our cue to go to the next one."

"UNESCO might have a word with you afterwards, private," Riley said as he patted the soldier on the shoulder. The exact same thought had crossed his mind.

"UNESCO can kiss my Louisiana ass, sir," the soldier replied, "What are they going to do? Complain to the Pentagon? As far as Brass is concerned I don't even exist."

"That still won't shield you from doing twelve years hard time in Fort Leavenworth, private," Riley replied

"Right now that's starting to look not so bad, sir," the soldier said, "We could be here for a _long_ time."

"Let's stick to the rules of engagement, private," Riley said back, "We seem to be already at war with one religion, let's not add the Hindus as well."

"Hindus are pussies, sir," the soldier chuckled, "They can't even eat beef."

Laughing at the soldier's remark, Riley continued his search.

Which was unfortunately without much success. Every stone, every seam seemed flawless. Like perfect examples of masonry whose very existence only screamed failure towards Major Riley and his men.

They were about to call it quits when one of the men pointed towards the North and saw something in the air.

Two tiny dots, that soon grew into two bigger dots, until finally Riley recognized one of the dots and felt his spirits lift up.

"BUFFY!"

Jumping into the sky Riley rose to meet them. For a moment it seemed like forever for Buffy and Xander to transition from dot status to something larger. Then they were upon him and Buffy crashed into him in a wild embrace at speeds a little too high for comfort.

A passionate kiss followed and a thousand emotions were exchanged without words.

"I missed you," Riley finally whispered in her ear.

"I missed you too," she replied.

Meanwhile Xander hung in the air close by, trying his best to look at other things and give the two love birds some private time.

"So, Riley," he finally said, "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

x

* * *

x

"Another laboratory?" Xander exclaimed, then he looked upwards in exasperation, "The big bucket of fun never stops, does it, guys?"

They had returned to the temple where they had exchanged stories of their adventures. Naturally those of Riley and his men was a little shorter. But he could compensate by giving them a few tidbits Buffy and Xander knew nothing about. Like Cell.

"I wish Gero was still alive," Xander said in disgust, "Then I would kill him again."

"Take a number," Riley said leaning against a temple wall, "I think by now most of the people in the North-West wanna have a say with the guy."

"My God," Buffy said horrified, "So that's what I've been sensing. That….. that thing!"

"And to think that if we had remained with them we could have looked forward to a visit from your great-great-great-great nephew Cell," Xander said.

Buffy looked at Xander in shock.

"You don't think we're related to that thing as well?"

Xander gave her an appraising look.

"You know, I did think I felt you there as well on that hotel roof," he said tentatively, "I wouldn't put it past uncle Gero to steal some of your DNA as well, you being the Slayer and all."

"I feel so violated," Buffy said as she put her arms around herself.

"Can't be all that bad," Xander said as he began to grin, "imagine all the fun you'll have at the next family reunion?"

"You're an evil man, Xander Harris," Riley said coming to the defense of his girlfriend.

"I am what this universe made me into," Xander shrugged philosophically, then he gestured around, "I mean look at this mess? We had to baby-sit a trio of deadly androids that in another time and place destroyed this world. Yet we had a very entertaining romp through India and China. Who comes up with that kind of shit?"

Then Xander pointed towards Riley.

"Meanwhile you got stuck in Down Under until they sent you on this wild goose chase looking for some hidden laboratory. Only to run into me and Buffy instead. Is that cosmic irony or what?"

Finishing his little speech Xander folded his arms demonstratively across his chest.

"Are you done?" Buffy asked unimpressed by Xander's little speech, "Or should I take advantage of this little pause to fetch popcorn?"

"I might have said what I had to say," Xander said straight-faced.

At that moment two of Riley's men approached them, including Lieutenant Parks.

"We've finished searching this temple from head to toe, sir," the lieutenant said, "There's nothing here."

Looking one last time at Buffy Riley sighed.

"Alright, we might as well go to the next one," he said, "Gather the others, we're going."

"Yes sir," Lieutenant Parks said as he gave Riley a salute.

"Mind if we tag along," Buffy said smiling towards Riley.

"I have no orders to the contrary," Riley smiled back, "But it's going to be boring. We still have some eleven temples to search."

"Boring's nice. It's excitement that's overrated," Xander said as he leaned against a large stone clock bell like structure, "We'll probably find nothing as we're not in Sunnydale. Only in the 'Dale will you stumble upon hidden artifacts and treasure just by leaning against it."

Xander had just leaned against the large clock bell like structure when a low rumbling noise, akin to sliding stones could be heard.

"Why me?" Xander groaned as both he and the structure he was leaning against slowly sank into the ground.

"Never join the army, Harris," Riley called after Xander with a big grin all over his face, "Your talent to stumble onto things will only get people killed.

"And that's supposed to be different from my current existence?" Xander called back.

"Because then I wouldn't be near you all the time," Riley replied.

x

* * *

x

"My fellow Americans," the president of the United States spoke as he addressed the nation live from the Oval Office, "We all witnessed live on television the revelation of this mysterious creature called Cell and the devastation he has wrought upon the citizens of the North West. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very moment."

"I am here to announce however that we are not powerless though. There has been much speculation about the Washington State quarantine zone and today I can openly say that it was meant to both contain and track down this Cell. It was then decided to keep Cell's existence a secret. That decision is mine, and mine alone. I alone must bear the consequences and it is I who has to live with them."

"But we had good reasons. The panic that now grips the North-West was exactly what we tried to prevent. I therefore call upon all citizens in that area to remain indoors and not hinder our gallant men and women in uniform as they hunt for this creature."

"And our effort is not without success. Dr. Gero, the one who created this thing, has been tracked down to a hidden laboratory inside Afghanistan where we found him collaborating with Al-Qa'ida. It was Dr. Gero who provided Al-Qa'ida with the means to implant explosives into people. It was Dr. Gero who was ultimately responsible for the recent suicide bomber offensive. And it was Dr. Gero who has now paid the ultimate price for his crimes as our forces have terminated this man with extreme prejudice. Even now government scientists are sifting through his works to find ways to defeat Cell."

"And defeat him we will. We shall strike down upon Cell, and any other state or agency who has been responsible for Gero's hideous crimes. So today I have ordered the following:"

"To our gallant forces in Afghanistan, continue to strike hard at our enemies there, so they may never unleash an attack like the suicide bomber offensive again. To do so I have ordered an additional brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division into Afghanistan to reinforce our troops there."

"To the embattled people of the North West, in concurrence with the governors of Washington State, Oregon and Idaho, together with the premiers of Canada and British Columbia we hereby declare martial law in all the states and provinces of the Pacific North West. We will find and destroy this menace that has besieged our people. God willing, we shall prevail."

"May God bless the United States of America."

x

* * *

x

"What the hell is that?"

Staring intently through the glass of the giant tank full of blueish liquid Buffy was completely mesmerized by what she could see.

"My guess, Cell," the voice of Trunks said behind her.

After the discovery of the secret lab a lot of people had suddenly arrived. Among them SG-1, some more scientists, but also Belmo, her future sister and her future wannabe brother in law.

Unfortunately when SG-1 and the scientists entered the laboratory they found it not to be the treasure trove full of valuable information they needed to defeat Cell. Paranoid as he was Gero had instructed his computer to maintain an active set of defenses, to be activated upon unauthorized entry.

So when a certain Xander Harris accidentally stumbled into the hidden lair he found himself confronted with an array of laser guns aimed at every conceivable part of his body. As they all opened fire certain instincts kicked in and Xander lashed out at the one thing that was controlling and coordinating every weapon in the facility.

Which just happened to be the very computer that had been the object of the search all along.

So when the scientist arrived to examine the facility they found the main computer to be a lifeless husk with smoke coming from a large hole in its side.

"Well, the good news is that Daniel was right," Sam said as she reported to Colonel O'Neill and the Saiyan, "This was an old Ancient facility. This is where he probably learned how to build and create such powerful androids."

Sam then glanced over her shoulder towards the still smoking computer.

"The bad news is that the whole circuit's fried. There's not a thing we can learn from it now."

"Can't you rebuild it?" O'Neill asked, immediately regretting asking the question.

"It's a computer of advanced Ancient construction, sir," Sam said as she tried to explain without becoming condescending, "Without a tech manual or an Ancient tech support line I wouldn't even know where to begin. I wouldn't even know where its hard drive would be, let alone if it had one."

"So it was all for nothing?" O'Neill said disappointed, "One big wild goose chase?"

"I wouldn't completely say that, Jack," Daniel said as he joined in the conversation carrying a large box of papers, "Just like at the other laboratory Gero had a hard time throwing anything away. There should be plenty of designs and schematics to give us lots of happy times."

"Hammond's not going to like this though," O'Neill said, "After Cell's little publicity stunt all of Washington is now breathing down his neck for results. If we don't produce some results soon we might see that bastard Kinsey crawl out of the woodwork again. He loves to close us down for sure."

"What is this?" Belmovekk said as he reached out and took the top schematic from the large stack of papers in the box.

"Uh, Charlie thinks it's a blue print to Android #17," Daniel said as the Saiyan examined the schematic, "its power source to be exact."

"Let me see," Sam said as she held out her hand towards the Saiyan who then handed it over. As she read it her eyes grew big as saucers.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed, "It's like a ZPM! He managed to build himself a ZPM! One that can replenish itself."

"A what?" Belmovekk asked curious.

"A zero point module," Sam explained, "The most powerful known power source in the universe, created by the Ancients. We only have a couple of them and they are all but exhausted. People wage galactic wars to capture intact ones. And this guy managed to build new ones. Who can replenish themselves."

The implication of what Gero had managed to achieve made Sam feel dizzy and she reached for a table to steady herself.

"This might explain why Gero's computer told Cell to seek to merge with Androids #17 and #18," she heard someone say, "It's technology that its familiar with."

"You know, if we can't stop Cell, the only way to stop him might be to destroy androids #17 and #18," she heard Daniel say, "I mean if his power can grow from absorbing people, I shudder to think what two ZPM's could do to him."

"Do you still know where they are?" O'Neill's voice asked the Saiyan.

"I am sorry to say that we have lost them," Belmovekk's voice said, "They could be anywhere right now."

"Why is it never easy?" O'Neill's voice sighed dejected.

Meanwhile Buffy was wandering through the facility when she came upon Mayan, staring at the broken computer.

"Heya sis," Buffy asked as she stood by her, "How's it been?"

"I'm okay," Mayan replied distantly.

A little thrown aback about her sister's reticence Buffy tried to engage in small talk. Talking about her jaunt through India with the androids, the places they had seen. Despite that her sister remained aloof. So she tried some more.

"You know," she said pointing to the computer, "It does look like a giant Nintendo. You could probably do a great game of Counter-Strike with…."

"STOP IT!" Mayan suddenly yelled, then she turned towards Buffy, "You know what? I'm glad you had a fun time with those androids, instead of destroying those two butchers. I'm glad you had an exciting vacation while this…, this Nintendo as you call it just unleashed the greatest abomination on the world we've ever seen! And trust me, sis, we've seen plenty of that over the years. So don't come here and….. mwaah, I can't do this!"

Throwing her hands into the air Mayan turned around and walked away, leaving a flabbergasted Buffy behind.

"What?" she said turning to Trunks, "What did I do? What did I do in your future? Did I abandon her or something? Did I smack her around while I did drugs?"

Trunks glanced briefly at the woman he loved, then he looked at Buffy not sure what to say.

"It's complicated," he finally said.

"I'll bet it is," Buffy snorted, then she turned around and walked away muttering, "I should have talked about clothes instead. The one time I talk about computers…"

"I…., uh," Trunks tried to say, but nobody was listening, except for Xander who came and gave Trunks a brief embrace.

"I feel your pain, brother," Xander said comforting, "Be assured that there was nothing you could have done or said to prevent that disaster."

Giving Trunks a solemn look and a pat on the shoulder Xander walked to the other side of the computer where SG-1 was still engaged in discussion with Belmovekk.

"So, what are we going to do now, Big Guy?" Xander said as he joined in the discussion. But the discussion didn't join him as they ignored him.

"I don't think it's a good idea to take these notes and blue prints to Capsule Corp." Major Carter said, sounding pretty vehemently, "We have everything we need at the SGC to study these things."

"I disagree, Commander Carter," Belmovekk objected, "The one thing you lack would be Bulma Briefs. And she knows far more about these androids then you do. Or anybody else at the SGC."

"That's because whenever there's an android body you immediately ship it off to Capsule Corp. and not to us," the colonel replied, "These papers now belong to the US government. They should go to the SGC."

The argument continued on for a while until Xander had enough.

"HEY!" he shouted, finally getting the attention he originally wanted, "let me get this straight, you've got your boxes full of paper, fine. But what are you going to do with that?"

Xander pointed to the large tank with blue-ish liquid which housed a very small embryonic Cell.

"Same with the papers, son," the colonel said, "Its all property of the US government now. Unless his Saiyanness over here objects to that as well."

Belmovekk stared at the tank for a moment.

"You can have that," he finally said.

"Fine!" the colonel said as he rolled his eyes, "Now he comes to his senses."

"Why cave in on the tank and fight us over these papers?" Daniel asked the Saiyan curiously.

"Simple," the Saiyan shrugged, "the papers could yield immediate results, dissecting and studying this larval version of Cell might take years to yield results."

"That's what I thought," Xander said.

Then, to everyone's surprise he raised his hand towards the tank and shot an energy blast at the tank.

THOOM!

When the blast hit the tank it crumpled the tank like it was a soda can. Next it split and liquid boiled off from a multitude of cracks until there was nothing left. Certainly of the tiny life form that was inside.

O'Neill was the first to speak up.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" he yelled.

"That was totally unnecessary," the blonde major said flabbergasted, "We could have learned valuable information about Cell from that!"

"Simple," Xander said unrepentant, "Like the Big Guy said, it would take a long time to learn anything about this Cell from that thing inside. And we don't have a long time. This will be decided in the coming days, not the coming months or years. And while I trust you guys, I don't trust Uncle Sam. I've seen first hand in Cleveland what Uncle Sam's black op guys can do when you give them the know how to create something like Cell. Am I the only one who doesn't want to go through this again some day?"

There was no immediate reply to that.

"I know you're a good guy, colonel," Xander said as he looked Colonel O'Neill straight in the eyes, "But can you tell me, no, guarantee me that whatever idiots were responsible for what happened in Cleveland, that they wouldn't have gotten their hands on this Cell?"

O'Neill looked at Sam, then at Daniel and finally at Teal'c. The kid was right. He couldn't guarantee that. There were too many instances of Kinsey's NID having gotten their hands on stuff that they shouldn't.

"I can't," O'Neill finally said.

"I thought so," Xander said back, not accusing, just earnestly.

Suddenly a glaring sound began to reverberate across the laboratory, speaking in a language that sounded incomprehensible. At the same time the lights turned to a dark green.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Daniel said to O'Neill.

"If the answer is self destruct then, yeah?" O'Neill replied, then he pointed to the surface, "Everybody out!"

x

* * *

x

DOOM!

With a loud bang the temple erupted into a fiery ball of energy, sending shockwaves and debris throughout the surrounding countryside.

From a hilltop a mile away SG-1 and the others watched as Gero's 2nd laboratory went ballistic.

"You just had to do it, didn't you," O'Neill said reprovingly towards Xander.

"I regret nothing," Xander said straight-faced, "Although I'm open to the suggestion that it might have been better to check first to see if there was a booby trap rigged up to the tank."

"Well I think you did the right thing," Mayan said approvingly as she put her hand on Xander's shoulder, "With all things Gero it's better to be safe then sorry."

"I agree," Trunks said as he sided beside his girlfriend.

"Me too," Buffy echoed.

"Why am I not surprised?" O'Neill said to no one in particular.

"Let us no longer dwell over things that cannot be helped," Belmovekk said, "And let us return to the real problem at hand. Like stopping Cell."

"It would seem the smartest thing to do now is to destroy those androids," Mayan said, "Prevent that thing from becoming perfect."

"Yeah but that only keeps him from becoming perfect," O'Neill countered, "It won't stop Cell, nor our current problem, that he's still absorbing US voters. And let's face it, as far as Washington's concerned that's a far greater issue that him absorbing two androids."

"It will buy us time though," Trunks said nodding his head, "time to come up with something. Time to surpass Super Saiyan."

"Surpass Super Saiyan?" O'Neill exclaimed and pointed towards Belmovekk, "You mean where he goes Billy Idol, including the attitude?"

"There's even a state beyond that?" Sam asked shocked, "Something even more powerful?"

"It is only a theory," Belmovekk said, "Let us not get carried away and make plans for it."

"Fa…, Vegeta seems to think it can be done," Trunks countered, to which Belmovekk shrugged.

"Vegeta thinks a lot of things," the Saiyan said unimpressed, "Not the least of which that his abilities match his ego."

Trunks wanted to say something, but Mayan quickly interjected.

"Before we get into an argument about something that may or may not be hypothetical, lets get back to the problem at hand. If it's possible to go beyond Super Saiyan, the answer may be as moot as dissecting that embryonic Cell. It would take years of training. And that's time we don't have. What can we do _now_?"

"Simple," Belmovekk said, "Piccolo and I will continue the hunt for Cell. It does not matter how smart he thinks he is, he will make a mistake at some point. And then Piccolo and the army will move in. Meanwhile I will take this box of papers to Bulma for her to sort out so she can come up with something that will disable the androids. That way at least we will only have to worry about Cell, not some Perfect Cell."

"Didn't we have that argument five minutes ago?" O'Neill said, "Those papers belong to the US government now."

Belmovekk tapped the box of papers that he now was holding, as in the general confusion of trying to escape a self destructing laboratory ownership of the box had changed.

"Does it not say, possession is 9/10th of the law?" the Saiyan said smiling, then he put two fingers of his free hand to his forehead and disappeared. Within five seconds he was back, but without the box.

"There, discussion settled," he said sporting a big smirk.

"We could still get a warrant," O'Neill said deadpan.

As everybody now prepared to leave the group began to disintegrate into smaller groups.

"I can't believe that Saiyan asshole," O'Neill said angry, "Who does he think he is? Mass murdering butcher!"

"He does have a point though," Sam said, "Bulma Briefs is a genius when it comes to reverse engineering technology. Those months she spent with the Sons of Priya studying Goa'uld technology netted Capsule Corp. literally dozens of patents."

"So, bring her to the SGC," O'Neill snorted.

"It might be better if I were to go there instead," Sam countered, "Not only is she said to have the best private laboratory West of the Rockies, she's also part of the Saiyan Clique. She's been involved with both Belmovekk and Goku for years. Keeping her in her comfort zone could be helpful into learning more about them."

O'Neill gave her an odd look for the moment, then he shook his head.

"Fine," he finally said, "But if she offers you a job you'd better refuse."

Elsewhere Buffy said her goodbye to Riley.

"So, are you going back to Australia?" she asked after he had taken her in his arms again, "Training those Bushtucker men?"

"Actually no," Riley said shaking his head, "New marching orders. Parks is taking over, the Army's sending my ass to the Quarantine zone."

"The Quartermain what?" Buffy asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"The Pacific North West," Riley said, "Where Cell is."

"Oh no you're not," Buffy said shaking her head, "That's too dangerous."

"Buffy, I'm still a soldier," Riley said solemnly, "I have to go where the Army sends me too."

"Then I'm going to have a word with the army," Buffy said as she disentangled herself from Riley's arms and walked towards Colonel O'Neill, "Hey, Colonel Cassandra…."

Elsewhere Mayan and Trunks stood at the edge of the crater that used to be Gero's 2nd laboratory.

"Well, at least this threat's been nipped in the bud," Mayan said as she peered into the crater.

"Yeah, I suppose," Trunks sighed a little absent, "Not that it matters much though. Cell's still at large. And no one knows where the androids are now."

"Gee, it's Captain Positive again," Mayan said shaking her head, "Can you be more negative?"

"It's the truth," Trunks shrugged as he turned around and peered into the distance, "You know, I'm losing faith here. Why did mother want me to come here. Want us to come here? It's not even our own past. Anything we do won't impact our time."

"Because she believed things had to be better then they were?" Mayan said, "Because there was no more hope in our time? Because there was no Goku? Out of the box thinking, remember!"

"There's no Goku here right now," Trunks said sullen, "Although we do have both our fathers."

"Let's not go there," Mayan said quickly.

"You know," Trunks said after he had been silent for a while, "I think this is worse."

"What's worse?" Mayan asked.

"This," Trunks said as he gestured around himself, "Mother may have known better times but I didn't know any better until I came here. All my life I've known devastation. But now that I've seen the world as it was before I don't think I can bear seeing it get destroyed. Not again!"

"Maybe it won't come to that," Mayan said as she put her hand on his shoulder, "Maybe Piccolo stops Cell in time, maybe your father will surpass Super Saiyan. And maybe mine will finally get his act together and do something smart."

"That's a hell of a lot of maybes," Trunks said, then he reached out and put his hand on hers, "We'll have to make the best of it."

Trunks looked over his shoulder into her eyes and smiled. It wasn't a confident smile, but it had to do.

"We will," Mayan smiled back, then she saw her father gesture for them to come. They were going to go back to Sunnydale.

"Time to go," she said as she took the first steps, "Come."

"I'm not going," Trunks said as he shook his head.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Mayan said bewildered.

"I'm not going back to Sunnydale," Trunks said resolute, "I've had my fill of underground caves."

"Then where are you going?" Mayan asked.

"My father," Trunks said much to her surprise.

"Your father? What on Earth's come over you?" Mayan exclaimed.

"Maybe my father's right," Trunks shrugged, "Maybe he does know of a way to surpass Super Saiyan. In case that he does I wanna be there."

"You're crazy!" Mayan said appalled.

"Yeah well, I guess its contagious around here," Trunks said he briefly glanced around.

"You know he doesn't want you around," Mayan said shaking her head, "You'll only setting yourself up to get hurt again."

"I fought androids #17 and #18 many times," Trunks shrugged again, "They slapped me around like a red headed stepchild. Compared to that what father did was nothing. Look, this is not some idealized summer vacation I'm talking about. I don't expect him to start hugging me and calling me his son. But even he knows that training will go a lot quicker if you got someone to spar with."

"If you're going then so will I," Mayan said, causing Trunks to turn around and shake his head.

"No! Absolutely not!" he said vehemently, "You've seen Vegeta. He'll be ten times worse against you then he is against me. And when he inevitably does I'll have to kill him."

Trunks looked so dead serious that Mayan couldn't help but start laughing.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked after she had stopped laughing.

Trunks pointed to Belmovekk still gesturing for them to come on the hill in the distance.

"Since I'm going to spend some quality time with my dad, why don't you spend some time with yours?"

"You're evil," Mayan said softly with held breath.

"Of course I am," Trunks grinned, "I'm Vegeta's son."


	17. Interlude 'The Long Twilight Struggle'

**Interlude:**

' **The Long Twilight Struggle'**

x

x

AN: _It feels funny writing this as lately I tend to write in chronological order. It's not like I do a bunch of the interludes, then a bunch of chapters. It's really a case of me finishing a chapter, then an interlude, then back to a chapter. For most of you juggling multiple stories this is probably standard bread and butter, but I'm not used to alternating between two different stories. And the Trunks verse story does feel like a completely different story to me. Every time I finish a chapter of the Cell saga I feel like I have to immerse myself into something else again. Really weird! But of course nothing new to some of you who are juggling multiple stories at the same time._

 _Anyhow, comments, questions, suggestions, reviews?_

 _x_

* * *

 _x_

A-Day + 4 years, 7 months, 23 days, somewhere, sometime

After the 'success' of Gohan and the Scoobies at Lakeview Bulma noticed a decided drop in the number of android attacks. And those that did happen happened mostly in other continents. As she analyzed the data she still got through her military contacts there was a marked drop in the number of attacks, and with them the number of deaths.

But it also wasn't because Gohan and the Scoobies had made such a great impression. She knew this for two reasons.

The first was because Gohan and the Scoobies hadn't been resting on their laurels since Lakeview. Eight times since that day they had taken the field against the android and each time they had gotten their asses kicked. So much so that it became suspicious why they hadn't been killed yet.

Which brought up point number two.

When they had first fought the androids in Lakeview Android #17 had divulged something to Gohan. Something that explained a great deal and was the answer to a riddle that had been plaguing Bulma, and a whole lot of other people for that matter, for more then four years now.

If the androids attacked any know human settlement and killed everyone, why on Earth had they never attacked the San Francisco Bay Area?

By now it was the only inhabited city left on the planet. At least the one where people still lived openly instead of hiding. Nothing like the number of people who used to live there in the past. The androids had seen to that indirectly by destroying most of the economy. Without a steady supply of food, water and electricity the large megacities of old couldn't survive.

So even without being attacked directly the mass starvation that followed the collapse of the international economy halved the number of people living in the greater San Francisco area. As it did in many places of the world. It was estimated that the Great Famine killed more people after the first year then the androids themselves.

As the cities of the world that hadn't been destroyed emptied themselves of most of their inhabitants so did San Francisco. But where the other still inhabited cities were destroyed one after the other, San Francisco got spared, even when refugees swelled its numbers again.

It had been the cause of massive speculation as to why the greater San Francisco area hadn't been attacked.

Because of that many people had fled to the city again, considering it to be the one safe place on the planet, protected by some hidden divine karma. And because of that others had fled from the city instead, figuring that if something's too good to be true, it probably was. And that the androids had spared the city out of some cruel game. Just waiting for the right moment to strike. Like a game of Civilization where you slaughter all the other civilizations early on, except for one, then wait and wait until that civilization reached the industrial age.

Only to then smash it with your space age weaponry.

A feeling which ultimately united all San Franciscans. Pessimists and optimists. Didn't matter if you believed in divine karma, or too good to be true, sooner or later they suspected the jig was going to be up.

That didn't stop many people from trying to make the best of it while it lasted. To live a live of some normalcy. To work in the city's factories producing goods to trade with the countryside for food. Or work on the many farms that had been created after one abandoned neighborhood after the other had been torn down to create farmland. Or in the city's entertainment industry, as people all over the planet still craved distraction to take their minds of the horror they were living in.

The topic of why San Francisco was being spared had now even become a taboo subject. With people considering it now bad karma to breach the subject. Oh, they would hold their breath whenever the androids neared the area, but when they passed as they always did they city would breath a collective sigh of relief and continue like nothing had happened. Like New Orleans every time a hurricane neared only to bypass the city.

It was an attitude that drove Bulma mad. For as a scientist nothing motivated Bulma more as the searching for the truth. And to turn your back on it seemed like…., utter stupidity.

But now Bulma knew the truth, knew the awful truth.

And now she thought that maybe the attitude of her fellow city dwellers wasn't so bad to begin with. Wasn't ignorance bliss after all?

As she sat in front of her computer she stared at her screen. A few equations were on there, but nothing much. It had been like this ever since Gohan told her the truth. Willow was worried that she hadn't come up with anything these past months. But Willow was also busy overseeing construction of the android detection arrays that the Army never could get enough of. So she didn't know the truth.

That God Awful truth.

Neither did the Scoobies. As Gohan didn't have the heart to tell them either. They really needed to keep their hopes up. Frankly Bulma was amazed that Gohan himself hadn't lost hope. It must be his Saiyan doggedness. That stubborn refusal to yield no matter the odds. Something he undoubtedly had inherited from his father.

Goku.

Where are you, Goku? Why did you have to die?

Not for the first and certainly not for the last time Bulma wondered how it might have been different if Goku hadn't died of that stupid heart virus.

Could he have stopped the androids?

Probably doubtful. The androids had managed to kill Belmovekk. And Goku always said that that crazy Saiyan was stronger then he was.

But Goku had this incredible ability not only to never give up, he inspired hope in everybody around him as well. Didn't matter how dire the situation, as long as Goku was with you you still had faith that somehow he would find a way to beat the odds.

And hope was something that was in such desperate short supplies these days. They could sure use some hope right now.

"I think you forgot to carry the Y," a voice said behind Bulma, waking her up from her daydreaming, "There right behind the X to the 7th times Pi."

"Thanks!" Bulma said as without thinking she corrected the formula on the screen, "That might actually wo…"

As she turned around she stared directly into the smiling face of Android #17.

"YOU!" she hissed as she scrambled from her chair to put some distance between her and the deadly automaton. As she did she looked around frantically to see where the other one was.

But to her horror she couldn't find the other abomination. Which meant that that bitch could be anywhere, roaming Capsule Corp. and… ohdeargod! Little Trunks!

She had to get out of here. Not just to save herself, but also to save the others. Save little Trunks from whatever the hell that murderous bitch was up too.

Unfortunately Android #17 was between her and the exit. That left only the alarm button. But it was at least 4 yards away and there were no obstacles between it and Android #17 either. And considering the android was wicked fast she'd stand no chance whatsoever racing it to either the door or the alarm button.

 _Oh my god, little Trunks, what am I to do?_

"You look shorter then you do on the pictures," she said as she tried to act cool.

"Funny," Android #17 smiled in that sickening smile of his, "You look exactly like you do in yours. Gero had collected some very good data on you all. You do look older though. Haggard, a little worried perhaps?"

"Has it probably occurred that you two might have something to do with that?" she countered as she slowly inched herself half a foot towards the alarm button.

"Please," Android #17 said as he made a small dismissive gesture, "You give us too much credit. You do know it was inevitable, right? Sooner or later humanity was going to make a mistake that couldn't be corrected. It just happened a little sooner then you thought."

"Nice try at deflecting blame," Bulma said, "In the end you guys did it, not us."

"I am only following the course that my creator set out for me," #17 shrugged indifferent, "Is it my fault that he disliked the rest of his pathetic race as much as he did Goku?"

"You killed him," Bulma said, "so clearly you had no qualms about going against your programming when it suits you."

"Not my fault he didn't safeguard his own well being as much as he did his hatred towards all of you," #17 shrugged again, then he looked around at some of the stuff that was inside Bulma's lab, "So this is where it all gets made, huh? I have to say I'm impressed. To think that that annoying radar which can track us was conceived here. Maybe I should have come here earlier and stopped you before you built it."

"But that would deprive you of your fun, doesn't it?" Bulma said as she took another step towards the alarm button, "That's why you spared Gohan and have been sparing us."

"I can see that Gohan told you of our little conversation," android said still looking around, "That's not nice of him. He deserves to get another spanking just for that."

Bulma tried to inch herself another step towards the alarm button but Android #17 held up his hand and waggled a finger towards her.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you," he singsonged. Then he pointed his finger towards the alarm button.

Poof!

With a puff of smoke the electronics behind the alarm button shorted out and began to burn.

"You bastard!" Bulma hissed angrily.

"I hear that a lot actually," #17 said as he brought his finger towards his mouth as if it were a smoking gun, then he blew softly on his fingertip, "usually right before I start killing people."

"I swear to God," Bulma said as she pointed towards her house, "If either you or that murderous bitch lay so much as a finger on my son I will….."

Android #17 began to laugh loudly.

"This is rich!" he said after he stopped laughing, "Alright, I'll bite. What are you going to do that will be the undoing of me?"

"Oh, you'll see," Bulma said as she stepped towards the android, "Technology made your sorry ass, technology can be your undoing. And I…, am technology incarnate!"

"I see," Android #17 nodded impressed as Bulma continued to stare at him, "Now I know why you emasculated both Yamcha and Vegeta. You have quite the intimidating streak."

Android #17 leaned over towards Bulma and began to smirk.

"I detect three flaws in your plan," the android smirked, "First, what makes you think you're anywhere near as good as Dr. Gero was? Secondly, what makes you think you even get to finish anything, for all you know I could kill you right here, right now."

"Then Gohan will destroy you," Bulma hissed softly, "Even if he's only half the man his father was he'll find a way to destroy the both of you."

"I think Gohan will soon have other concerns," #17 shrugged indifferent.

Bulma wanted to say something when she suddenly stopped.

"You said three flaws," she said, "you only mentioned two. What's the third."

Android #17 held up three fingers. Then as to illustrate his next point the alarm suddenly started to glare.

"Thirdly, has it ever occurred to you that maybe we're not here to kill you and your brat? Maybe we're here to kill somebody else."

x

* * *

x

Buffy had been lying in her bed unable to get some sleep. She should be. She had spent quite the lengthy training session in the gravity gym. They all had. By now Xander and Gohan had recovered from their last beating at the hands of the androids. Of course she also had gotten a terrible beating. But while being the Slayer hardly proved helpful fighting androids, it still gave her a bonus in being the first to get better. Which was just as well because Karrin's little supply of senzu beans had long run out.

She'd gladly trade her fast healing for the ability to go Super Saiyan though. Or whatever the hell it was that humans would do if they could go Super. Anything but being just an android's punching bag.

Or maybe a punching bag who could go the distance with one android long enough so Gohan could destroy the other.

Until now that was the one fatal flaw in their battle plan. Neither she nor Xander was strong enough to occupy one of the androids long enough so they wouldn't double team upon Gohan again.

So, as usual, Gohan had put them through the wringer in training again.

It was afterwards that she suddenly had an epiphany.

Since a year now Gohan had taken to instructing both little Trunks and Mayan after regular training was over. And at first it was cute looking at the little kids as they tried to do something that looked even remotely like martial arts.

But today as Buffy watched exhausted after training she noticed that the two kids had gotten quite good actually. They were even training at 10 G's.

As Buffy watched little Trunks and Mayan it hit her. What if it fell unto them to destroy the androids? What if she, Gohan and Xander couldn't destroy the androids? What if their reign of terror went on and on and on and on? Was that going to be the legacy that she would leave on to her sister?

It had her absolutely powerfreaked as she lay there in the dark.

She was so self-absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door to her room open until it was too late. It wasn't even like it never happened before. Mayan had a habit of leaving her room and coming to sleep with her big sister. Mayan loved her big sister, even, or maybe especially when it didn't always suit her big sister.

"Not now Mayan," Buffy said tired when she felt somebody lie next to her.

Before she even finished saying it she knew something was wrong, as she didn't feel the close presence of her little sister, both her little chi and the psychic connection she usually felt.

Instead she heard a female voice whisper in her ear, a voice that would creep out a thousand ships. If there still were any ships that is.

"Ready, little girl?"

x

* * *

x

"What the hell?" Xander said sleepily as he emerged from his room, wearing only a boxer shorts as the alarm was ringing. The android alert. Within seconds alarms were ringing outside as well, spreading throughout the city. The androids had come.

"Xander, androids," Willow said as she came running from the opposite direction.

"Where?" Xander asked as he tried to shake his drowsiness off him, "Which part of the city?"

"This part," Willow said as she ran past him, "They're here, inside Capsule Corp. I saw the blonde one."

"Where?" Xander asked after Willow.

"East wing," Willow said before darting around a corner, "Save the children!"

"Will do," Xander said as he closed the door behind him.

He was about to go to the rooms of the children when he noticed something odd.

With the city now in the grip of a city wide android alert, why was the door to Buffy's room still closed?

x

* * *

x

Gohan had also come from his bedroom, only to head straight for the laboratory. In case of an android attack to the Capsule Corp. facility the plan was that Xander would take care of the children, Buffy be in charge of Bulma and Willow and he himself would fend off the androids, something was wrong. He just felt it. And as he approached the laboratory he knew something was wrong as there was no sign of Buffy.

And then the door to the laboratory opened and out came Android #17.

"Are you up for a rematch," Android #17 said as he smiled amiably.

As he transformed into Super Saiyan Gohan's delivered his response.

x

* * *

x

As she felt the android touch her, Buffy found herself unable to move, not even an inch.

"You have great skin," Android #18 said as she moved closer to Buffy, one hand caressing her face. She said it so matter of fact, it made the whole situation more creepy.

"Such great skin," Android #18 said. Did she sound jealous or something? Okay, one more remark like that from her and she had officially crossed over into Drusilla country.

"You know, I've never been so up close to anyone before," #18 said, "Not one who's alive. This is a new experience for me."

Okay. The ship to Port Drusilla had now arrived at its destination and its crew was now out and about looking for hookers.

"Maybe you should try not killing people," Buffy managed to say, "I hear it's the latest fashion trend."

Android #18 now lay next to Buffy, lying on her side so she could look at the Slayer

"There's no fun in that," the android replied as she dismissed the idea. Then her hand wandered down south, "hmm, what do you know, your breasts are smaller then mine."

 _This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening!_

"You know," the android said as she withdrew her hand, "You've been quite annoying these past months and you're gonna die anyway, but would you consider having sex with me?"

"What?" Buffy exclaimed in a combination of both shock and horror.

"I've never done it before," Android #18 said matter of fact, "and you do look kinda pleasing. I have tried it with men but somehow they never managed to get hard."

 _Gee! I wonder why? Mortal fear much?_

Then the alarm went off, causing Android #18 to look away. As she did Buffy finally managed to get her body to work and she tried to jump off of her bed.

"Oh no you don't," Android #18 said as she jumped after Buffy with lightning speed, grabbing her by the wrist, then taking her in an extremely painful hold as she drove Buffy face first into the wall.

"That's not nice," Android #18 said sounding very much disappointed, "Here I open myself up to you and all you can think of is running away?"

"What can I say?" Buffy grunted through gritted teeth, "You just said you're going to kill me, that _really_ takes the pressure right off. Ever tried suggesting dinner and a movie first?"

"You know, you're even more annoying now then you were when we were fighting," Android #18 said, "I'll enjoy killing you."

"Just do it," Buffy grunted, "Been there, done that, got a whole bunch of t-shirts."

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" a new voice yelled.

It was Xander as he stood in Buffy's door opening, naked, except for his boxer shorts.

"Oh goodie," Android #18 said annoyed, "It's the other pup. Go away, this is not your time. Yet!"

Xander's reply came in the shape of his chi flames blazing around him.

"Have it your way," #18 said, then she let go of Buffy and threw herself at Xander.

But not before she lashed out with lightning speed at Buffy and kicked her on her pelvis. With a loud crack Buffy felt her legs give away as she fell down helplessly to the ground. Before she even hit the ground Xander was already fighting Android #18.

x

* * *

x

As he fought Android #17 Gohan again realized he still wasn't good enough to defeat the android. And yet without the other android in sight this was the best shot he ever had at defeating one of the androids in combat.

"Stiiiiiiiill not good enough," Android #17 taunted as he easily evaded one of Gohan's punches.

"Nowhere near," #17 said as yet another of Gohan's kicks went awry.

"Getting really sloppy," he said as he practically danced around Gohan.

By now Gohan was used to that. #17 liked to taunt him at every opportunity.

But at the same time something else was up.

Why wasn't Android #17 following up on the mistakes he made to tear him a new asshole. He had done so many times in the past.

Unless….

The answer came in the form of an explosion that tore a hole in the side of one of the Capsule Corp. buildings. The one with their private sleeping quarters.

"Only now does he get it," #17's voice said taunting, "And to think your mommy wanted you to be a scholar."

Next thing Gohan saw Android #18 come from the newly created hole and take off. Before he could do anything Android #17 took off as well.

"Be seeing you, son of a Saiyan," Android #17 said as he gave Gohan a brief salute, then the two of them took off with great speed. As they sped away Bulma staggered out of her laboratory.

"Are they gone?" she asked as Gohan de-transformed.

"I think so," the teen said sullen.

"Good God!" Bulma exclaimed as she saw the hole in one of her buildings, "Buffy…"

It only then dawned upon Gohan that it was Buffy's room that now sported a big giant hole.

x

* * *

x

As Bulma had to explain what had transpired at Capsule Corp. to the San Francisco military governor it fell to Gohan and Willow to take Buffy to the hospital. It took her two days to smoothen things out, even having to go to the California military governor. In the end she managed to convince both generals not to place Capsule Corp. under military trusteeship.

Even though she had managed to pull off quite the diplomatic coup Bulma only felt tired and empty as she finally entered the hospital. Making her way to the intensive care department she encountered Gohan and the children outside.

"Mommy!" little Trunks said as he ran into his mother's arms.

"So, what's the news?" she asked Gohan after she had greeted her son and took him into her arms.

"It's bad," Gohan said.

"That bad, huh?" Bulma asked.

"Even worse," Gohan replied, who then proceeded to tell Bulma of the massive trauma Buffy had suffered. Her entire pelvic region had been shattered, necessitating 12 hours of surgery to make sure that her major arteries weren't destroyed.

"And what about her Slayer healing?" Bulma asked, "Shouldn't she be healed by now?"

"It would seem that some injuries are too great even for Slayer healing," Gohan said downcast, "It can heal the body easily, but the mind…."

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked.

"Just go ask Willow," Gohan said as he nodded to the door behind him.

As Bulma entered the room she saw Buffy lying in a bed, hooked up to all sorts of machinery, with Willow sitting right beside her. Buffy seemed asleep but as Bulma entered the room she opened her eyes and looked up.

"Xander, is that you?" she asked weakly. When she saw it was Bulma she leaned back into her pillow and closed her eyes again. As Willow saw Bulma she got up and came to greet her.

"What's wrong," Bulma whispered into Willow's ear, "Doesn't she know that…."

"Oh, she knows," Willow said as she glanced over her shoulder towards Buffy, "I think she just chooses to believe otherwise. She's sitting in the Nile right now. Some things can't be fixed, not even with Slayer healing."

"Gohan said something similar," Bulma said pointing to the door behind her.

"They killed him right in front of her eyes Bulma, they killed Xa…., Willow suddenly stopped and began to cry, "He's gone. I can't believe that he's really gone!"

As she began to cry Bulma took Willow in her arms. For several minutes she wept uncontrollably, then the sobbing lessened into more incidental sobs.

"We'll take good care of her," Bulma said comforting, "She'll have the best care that we can still buy."

Willow didn't respond. Which Bulma thought made sense. The bond between these three had been exceptionally strong, and now one of them was dead and the other scarred mentally and physically for life. All things considering Willow held up quite good actually.

What she couldn't see was that Willow wasn't crying any more. As Bulma held her in an embrace Willow's face turned angry. And for a moment, one small moment her eyes turned black, ink black.

She was going to make those androids pay. Oh how she was going to make them pay!

x

* * *

x

AN: _If you were wondering why I made Android #18 behave a little… odd, I figured that they originally both started out as blanks. The series showed that with constant human interaction #18 developed certain emotions and kinda mellowed out. But what if your only human interaction is constant death and terror?_

 _Anyhu, review!_


	18. Chapter Nine

**Chapter 9**

' **Sail to the Moon'**

x

x

AN: _Almost there…., almost there…. ;)_

x

* * *

x

A Day +10

x

As the alarm clock went off Buffy awoke from the first night's rest in her own bed since the start of this whole sorry mess.

Boy did it feel good!

While India had been fun, it had hardly been memorable in the night time rest department. With cleanliness from unwanted fellow sleepers of the insect variety, not comfort, the main concern. In sharp contrast her own bed now felt like 7th heaven to her.

Stretching herself she scratched her head and yawned. Then she turned the alarm off. No rest for the weary today.

Or any other day for that matter.

She got out of bed and changed into some clothing. Which was also nice. Fresh new clothing. Her own that is. Then she went downstairs.

"B'fy!" little Dawnie said enthusiastically as she saw her big sister enter the kitchen.

"Hey, little sis," Buffy smiled as she picked up the toddler, "Long time no see."

"B'fy," Dawnie giggled, then she hit Buffy on the nose. It was a playful pat for a toddler. But still a toddler with no inkling to how strong she really was as it hurt like hell. As she rubbed her nose she couldn't help but think that some day Dawnie and Mayan were going to become way stronger then she was. Maybe even go Super Saiyan?

For a moment she contemplated that possibility.

Should she feel envy?

Or should she feel relief? Finally somebody to take over the family business.

"Maybe we should first make it that far," she said softly.

"Did you say anything, Buffy?" Joyce said from the kitchen counter where she was busy making sandwiches.

"Just thinking aloud, mom," Buffy said, then she rubbed her nose again, "Boy, Dawnie sure can throw a punch."

"Yeah, she sure loves her big sister," Joyce chuckled, "Did you know that she played in your room for almost every day that you were gone?"

"Ah, so that's why all my high heels have become no heels," Buffy said as she gave an accusing look. Which caused the child to giggle.

"She loves shoes alright," Joyce said, "She's truly like her big sister."

"You might as well give your allowance for the next ten years to me," Buffy said as she gave her little sister a good look over, "I wonder if you're going to look like me as well when you grow up?"

The point was moot as the Twins weren't identical. But then again that was not what Buffy meant.

"She does look an awful lot like you, doesn't she?" Joyce said.

"Awful lot doesn't cover it," Buffy said as she walked towards her mother carrying Dawn, "Try evil Twin. With a ripped shirt."

"Be easy on her," Joyce said as she stopped what she was doing for a moment, "She's had a hard life."

Buffy picked up a sandwich and took a big bite.

"I had a hard life too," Buffy muttered softly between bites.

Joyce looked at Buffy like she wanted to say but nothing like hers, but she decided not to.

"All the more reason to give her some time," she said instead, "It will work itself out. Like with your, um, other sister."

Oh God, she's now trotting out alternate Buffy already, Buffy thought. Giving Dawn the remainder of her sandwich she put down her little sister and picked up a new sandwich.

"Oh, you have no idea how that has worked out," Buffy said as she remembered what Xander had told her about what he had seen in that thingamabob he had brought with him from Tanjecterly. Alternate sister dearest doing it with alternate Belmo was just too gross to even think about. It was something only the two of them knew and she had probably said way too much already.

"So, where's Mayan's older sister?" she asked.

"Outside, with Mayan," Joyce replied.

"You know, you say that way too easy," Buffy said as she picked up some more sandwiches. Then she stepped into the back garden.

There, sitting next to the sand box where the twins liked to play, was Mayan. Watching little Mayan as she was playing in the sandbox.

"Here," Buffy said as she held out a sandwich to Mayan. The big one that is.

"I'm not hungry," Mayan said without looking up.

"You will be," Buffy said as she took another bite from hers.

"Fine," Mayan said a little curt as the took the sandwich.

As she handed Mayan the sandwich little Mayan looked up and saw Buffy, then she looked at Mayan, then Buffy, as if she was confused.

"She thinks I'm you," Mayan said.

"As long as you're not thinking you're me I'm fine with that," Buffy said, then she leaned forward and gave little Mayan a kiss. After which all seemed well again as she resumed playing.

"I wonder what my life would have looked like if there were no androids," Mayan said, "Would I be like her? Grow up to live a normal life? Go to school? Get a normal boyfriend? Graduate? Get a normal job?"

"Don't do that," Buffy said as she slowly shook her head, then she changed her voice, "Going down that path lies the Dark Side. Forever it will consume your destiny. Mmmmm!"

"Yoda Summers," Mayan snorted just a little bit derogatory.

"Well, what can I say?" Buffy shrugged as she finished her sandwich, "I've been down wishing for normal street and not only was the road bumpy, I didn't like the part of town where I ended up."

Buffy gestured around.

"Even if the androids never showed up you'd still live in Sunnydale California, capitol of supernatural weirdness. Undoubtedly something would have showed up to ruin your parade. Just like something else will show up to ruin mine long after we've defeated Cell and you've happily gone back to your grim dark future."

"Gee," Mayan said as she raised an eyebrow, "And here I was thinking that I was the pessimist."

"Sunnydale has that effect on people," Buffy shrugged, then she looked around uncomfortably, "Got any plans for today?"

"Nothing special," Mayan replied, "I'll probably go find Yamcha and spar. Beat him up or something."

"Yeah, he has that kind of effect on people too," Buffy echoed, then she bit her lip, "Unfortunately he left town to join Pickles together with Riley and Belmo."

"Krillin then?" Mayan asked hopeful but Buffy shook her head.

"All gone," she said.

"I'll figure out something," Mayan said as she turned around.

Not sure what to say Buffy bit her lip. Then little Mayan hit her with a small plastic shovel causing her to wince. Damn, these kids had no idea how much punch they really had! As she rubbed her leg an idea hit her.

"Look," she said hesitantly, "I don't know what I did to you in the future to piss you off. And I'm sure its all nasty and stupid and stuff. But I haven't done any of it yet. At least I hope. I'm not asking you to like me, but can we please not do the awkward silence thing when we're around each other?"

For a moment things looked dicey, then Mayan looked over her shoulder.

"I suppose," she said sounding not very cordial. But for now it had to do.

"Alright," Buffy said, then she held out her hand back towards the house, "Shall we go?"

"Go where?" Mayan asked.

"To the one place in this town that's even more messed up then starring at a younger version of yourself," Buffy said solemnly.

x

* * *

x

Mayan followed Buffy over the skies of Sunnydale until they came over the lesser part of town, to a large warehouse with a small penthouse on top. With most of the roof available as the penthouse's balcony there was plenty of room to land, but somebody had drawn a large circle with an H in it.

"Helicopters land here?" Mayan asked but Buffy shook her head.

"Just a little Xander humor," she smiled slightly, "from the old days. From the before."

"Before what?" Mayan asked puzzled.

"You'll see," Buffy said evasively as she walked up to the roof door of the penthouse.

Mayan followed her, curious as to what she would find.

"Who lives here?" she asked.

"Xander does," Buffy said as she pulled forth her key, "It used to be Belmo's spiffy bachelor pad, but now it's Xander's fortress of solitude. Oh, and on the off chance that Belmo had something similar in your timeline, this was probably the place where you were..., um, created shall we say?"

"What do you mean?" Mayan asked, causing Buffy to roll her eyes.

"Knocked up, put a bun in the oven, drinking out of the well, up the duff, pink or blue team, riding the baby train, killing the rabbit, being a defective typewriter, getting a lovely bump, being in a fix, tickling the ovaries, left her in the pudding club, being put on stork watch, casting her own mini-me, nine months prep on a short subject, way not anorexic, having caught Catholic's disease, being in delicate condition, eating for two, fatal case of sperm poisoning, do I need to say more?"

"I think you pretty much nailed it," Mayan said back ardently as Buffy opened the door. Then she stepped inside followed by Mayan, stepping into what was the Penthouse's living room.

Inside the room a television was on, with a girl watching the news. Just from glancing briefly at the subtexts Mayan could see it was about the hunt for Cell. Another town found empty, only this time in Canada.

"Looks like he's going up North," she said.

"Looks like it yeah," Buffy echoed.

As they spoke up the girl briefly looked up. Eyes that at first glance looked normal, and yet at the same time devoid of intelligence, looking at her and then, for a moment of sheer horror Mayan felt like she was peering into something primordial, something of vast power. That she was being judged. And the urge came upon her to look away. Be anywhere but near this…., whatever the hell she was. Then the girl stopped looking at her and resumed watching television.

All the while Buffy had keenly watched her to see her reactions.

"What the hell!" Mayan exclaimed shocked.

"So you also see it," Buffy said, then she chuckled, "I thought she would."

"You….," Mayan said as she looked at Buffy, then at the girl again, "What…, who…?"

"She's Xander's bane," Buffy said mournfully, "the albatross that hangs around his neck."

"Doesn't she…, um…?" Mayan said as she nodded towards the girl.

"Hear us?" Buffy shrugged, "Oh, she hears us. She just doesn't care."

"What is she?" Mayan asked as shock gave way to curiosity. She even gently extended her senses only to notice that there was great power in this girl. A great slumbering power.

"She's a porn star, if you would believe it," Buffy said, "If you know where to look you can even see her in 'action' as it were on the internet. She even has a couple of fan sites if you could believe it. They met when Xander went walkabout. They had an adventure on some far away magical land and there bad stuff happened. Long story short, she saved his life at the cost of hers."

"But she's sitting right there," Mayan protested as she pointed towards the girl.

"Did I say life?" Buffy said as she cupped her chin pretending to think, "Maybe I should have said soul instead. Whatever she was, she no longer is. Almost empty shell, meet Mayan. Mayan, meet Xander's bane. Xander's been taking care of her out of guilt ever since. To bad there's just not much to take care off. And what's in there you probably don't want to meet."

Now even more curious Mayan tried to probe deeper into the girl. Then she recoiled in horror.

"No way!" she said as she began to shake, "This can't be!"

"Oh, yes way," Buffy nodded, "Told you you don't want to meet what's inside."

"How's that possible?" Mayan exclaimed as she walked to the side of the couch on which the girl was sitting, "She's human."

"Well, only 95% human, thanks to the plastic surgeon," Buffy said as she joined her future sister's side, "Let's just say that some magic was involved and…"

Buffy got interrupted as somebody else entered the living room.

"Hey, it's you," a girl said entering the room carrying a box full of housecleaning goods as she saw Buffy, then she saw Mayan and the box dropped right out of her hands.

"YOU!" the girl yelled as she stepped backwards, her eyes wide with fear, "Look, I'm not a demon anymore, I'm human thanks to you! I've been good, honest! I even have an honest job and….. please don't kill me!"

The girl fell on her knees as she started to beg.

"It's not her," Buffy said as she stepped, putting her hands on the girl, "Look! I know she looks like me but its not her."

"What the hell is going on here?" Mayan said nonplussed as her tail began to uncoil itself from around her waist.

"See?" Buffy said as she pointed to the tail, "It's not her."

"She's not? Another one?" the girl said both surprised and relieved, then her eyes grew big again and she took hold of Buffy's tank top, "It wasn't me! I swear! I didn't do anything, I was busy taking care of her. I'm staying as far away from magic as possible…"

"Relax, Anya," Buffy said trying to calm the girl, "Nobody thinks you've been playing inter-dimensional grabass again. She's my sister from the future."

"Possible future," Mayan said correcting as she folded her arms across her chest, "It's a big difference."

"Anya, meet Mayan, Mayan, meet Anya," Buffy said as she pointed back and fro, "Anya's Xander's housekeeper. She also takes care of her when he's not around."

Buffy pointed to the weird girl again, who had totally ignored what had just transpired.

"Since Anya's a former demon….," Buffy tried to say but Anya interrupted her.

"Vengeance demon," Anya said vehemently as she stood up, then she looked at Mayan, "You mean you're one of her little sisters from the future? You look so much like her."

"You seem to be taking it all in stride," Mayan said, causing Anya to gesture dismissively.

"Oh, please," Anya smiled, "I've seen more strange things in the two years that I've been here then all of the thousand years before. Can I touch your tail?"

Mayan had to almost yank her tail out of Anya's way as the former vengeance demon didn't seem to be waiting for permission as she reached out for it.

"No you can't," Mayan said annoyed as her tail coiled itself around her waist again.

"You have to excuse Anya," Buffy said, "She was born without manners. Or restraints for that matter."

"I have manners," Anya protested as she looked over her shoulders towards Buffy.

"She's also the only housekeeper that Xander could find who wasn't going maxi-wig over Angela," Buffy continued.

"She's nice," Anya said as she nodded in agreement, "She never complains, she's always quiet and she's a good listener. I also make good money. Money is good you know. The basis of a well functioning capitalist society."

"You use money?" Mayan said deadpan, causing Anya to almost go apoplectic.

"Are you a communist?" she asked in shock.

"No, I'm serious," Mayan said brazen-faced, "We don't use money any more. We only use barter."

"I have to sit down," Anya said in disbelief she reached for her head, then she made for the kitchen.

"There's a whole sofa here," Buffy said as she tried her best to suppress a huge grin.

"I need to sit down where there's alcohol nearby," Anya replied as she staggered into the kitchen, "lots of it!"

"You made that up, right?" Buffy asked Mayan, "About the no money thing."

"I might have embellished it," Mayan said back, causing Buffy to smile, "She's weird."

"Told you this place was messed up," Buffy nodded, then she gestured towards the door that led downstairs, where the gravity gym was, "Shall we go? Work out some of those issues?"

They were about to go downstairs when somebody else entered the living room through the roof door.

It was Gohan.

"Hey Sensei," Mayan smiled at the kid, "Wanna go downstairs? Watch me beat the living snot out of my big sister?"

"You wish," Buffy snorted, then she noticed the worried look on the youngster's face, "Is something wrong?"

"It's dad," Gohan said worried, "He's gone!?"

x

* * *

x

Fearing that somebody had abducted the sick Saiyan everybody who was able to look was put to work finding traces of the missing Saiyan. As they searched all over town Buffy suddenly had a hunch and went to a place she figured might yield some success.

Sunnydale High Memorial Park.

There, standing amidst the rubble of the school, which had been left as is, only cleaned up in a sort of stylish setting, stood Goku, gazing over what was once a busy high school. And which for three years represented Hell on Earth for her and her friends.

And in no way had it anything to do with the fact that it had been built on top of a Hellmouth!

"Aren't you supposed to be sick?" Buffy asked as she landed behind the Saiyan.

"I got better," Goku replied without looking back.

"Captain Obvious strikes again," Buffy replied, "So, what brings you here?"

"I wanted some fresh air," the Saiyan said cheerfully, "I'm not that big on caves."

"Fresh air you can get everywhere," Buffy said as she looked around, "coming to the site of your last battle on the other hand, well, most people prefer to be otherwhere."

"I'm not most people," Goku said as he bent over to examine a particular piece of rubble, "Hey, I think Yamcha made that imprint."

"I think we all left a lot of imprints here," Buffy said as she touched a piece of rubble herself.

"It was fun, wasn't it?" Goku said as he turned around and faced Buffy.

"Depends on your taste of kinks or vanilla," Buffy said.

"Even though I was in a daze I still heard all of you talk in my dreams," Goku said, "I think I understand what's happening."

"You hear us in your dreams," Buffy said raising an eyebrow, "How wigged up is that?"

"Any stranger then your Slayer dreams?" Goku countered deadpan.

"You know, you're way smarter then you make yourself out to be," Buffy said as she put on an aggrieved face, "That's not fair!"

Goku smiled for a moment, then he continued.

"I came here because I remembered that at that time I though it might be helpful if there was something beyond Super Saiyan. And now it looks like it might be possible."

"You were sick just hours ago," Buffy pointed out, "Hardly the right time to go take on Cell. Or the androids. You do realize that when he got sick Belmo took a long time to get better."

"I'm not going to fight them, if Vegeta couldn't beat them I have no chance whatsoever," Goku said as he shook his head, then he began to smirk, "Not now at least."

x

* * *

x

The jumpmaster on board the C-17 held up seven fingers, signalling that it would be seven minutes to their jump. Which meant that in three minutes the plane would depressurize at 45.000 feet.

"Saddle up people," Riley yelled as he reached for his oxygen mask. Next to him Burns left his seat and made sure everybody had his oxygen mask and small oxygen tank.

Further to the front of the plane there were six people who weren't going to use any oxygen masks or tanks. Piccolo, Faith, Belmovekk, Tien, Yamcha and Krillin. While Riley envied them that they didn't need additional oxygen, he still preferred to have it with him though. While some said that a certain amount of discomfort was good for the soul, Riley always figured that it was the certain amount which was still open for debate.

The reason for this all was that they were going for a HALO jump into the latest town to have been hit by Cell.

Up until now the problem was always that in order to get to Cell they had to get there. Using chi powered flight meant that they would have to expend some chi to get from A to B and Cell seemed to have some extraordinarily fine tuned senses. It didn't matter how much they tried to suppress their chi, in order to fly you still had to use significantly more then the average human being. And Cell had a knack for picking that up and making himself scarce.

It was driving Piccolo mad. No matter what he did he couldn't get to Cell in time.

On the upside, they did manage to save some of the people living in the towns he attacked that way.

They had tried Satiya's instant transmission. But that didn't work as there was nothing to lock on for him.

They had tried alternative forms of transportation. Cars were out because they were too slow. Boats were out too as Cell operated mostly inland. Helicopters proved too noisy. The ring transporter of the Enterprise could have done the job, but unfortunately the Enterprise had finally been deployed elsewhere. A matter of life and death involving a certain troublesome Goa'uld. So bad in fact that it was a testimony to the danger that Cell posed that the SGC hadn't rushed every available chi trained soldier through the gate to face him.

That left planes. But planes were also noisy.

Luckily most of their chi trained men were former special forces. And if special forces wanted to insert themselves behind enemy lines without drawing attention to their mode of transport they used a delivery technique called HALO. High altitude, low opening. Meaning jumping out of a plane flying so high an observer on the ground wouldn't see it, then free falling to the lowest possible altitude and only then open your parachute.

Riley had done it a couple of times and that, more then anything, made him covet his little oxygen tank even more. Some discomforts just weren't worth any benefits to the soul, his inner masochist just didn't extend that far.

The idea was for them to jump into the latest town to be attacked by Cell so high he couldn't see them, free fall and then only raise their chi to land at the last possible minute. In theory that should give them a chance to catch Cell in the act. Surround him, then let Piccolo and Satiya double team him.

In theory.

Still, it was the best plan they had come up with so far. Which said a lot about the sheer desperation they were now facing.

As luck had it Cell had now moved far into Canada. Which meant that the pressure from Washington was getting just a little less. The bad news was that Cell now had more room to maneuver as the Canadians couldn't flood their countryside with as many troops as the Americans could. And all the signs seemed to indicate that he was going towards Alaska.

Which was really bad as the androids were last seen somewhere in China. Could Cell be working his way towards them?

The jump was going to be without parachute, as everybody involved had received chi training. Still, old habits died hard and some people were understandably nervous as flight didn't come naturally to everyone.

Especially this high.

"Everybody's ready, sir," Burns said as he reported back to Riley.

"Good," Riley said, "Then let's get…."

Before he could finish his sentence five people suddenly materialized into the plane.

"Buffy?" Riley gasped as he noticed his girlfriend was one of them.

"Goku?" Krillin said as he recognized one of the others. Then the little fighter launched himself at the Saiyan and threw his arms around him

"Goku! Are you better?" Krillin said, as tears of joy rolled down his face.

"Well, I am a little bit hungry," Goku smiled as he scratched his hair, then the Saiyan looked at Piccolo, who still sat unperturbed in his customary cross-legged position, "Kamiccolo!"

Frowning heavily the Namek looked up at Goku.

"No need to fuse my name," Piccolo growled annoyed, "I'm mostly based on Piccolo. You can call me Piccolo. Why are you here? You probably ruined our chances to sneak upon Cell."

"I don't think any one of us can defeat both Cell or the androids," Goku said earnestly, "So I'm taking anyone who wants too to do some training. At that place where you can do a whole year's worth of training in a day."

"The Room of Spirit and Time," Belmovekk exclaimed, "You want to go in there?"

"It's a hard place to stay in though, Goku," Piccolo remarked, "You yourself could only stand it for a month."

"I think I can handle it now," Goku said confidently, then he pointed over his shoulder towards Xander, who had teleported in with him, "he stayed in there for a whole year."

"It was hard though," Xander said, "We were going crazy at times."

"It probably helped that you two did it like rabbits there as well," Buffy snorted politely.

"Yeah, that too," Xander said with a growing smile. They were the only good memories he had of that damn place.

"I'm going to take Vegeta and Trunks too," Goku continued, "I know that they can take it as well."

"I am coming with you as well," Belmovekk said, then he turned to Piccolo, "if the need were to arise I could always use my instant transmission to come to your aid."

"I see," Piccolo nodded slowly, "Then go. But be quick, Cell is growing ever more strong. You may not have a whole day."

Goku nodded in response. Then he brought two fingers to his forehead.

"Anyone coming along, take hold of me," he said.

"Wait!" Krillin suddenly said, "Answer me this. Now that an opponent stronger then the Mayor has shown up, are you happy, or are you scared?"

Goku looked at the little fighter for a moment. Then he began to smile.

"Both," he said. Then he and everyone in contact with him disappeared within a flash, leaving a lot of astonished soldiers behind. Then one of them spoke up.

"Does this mean we're no longer going to jump?"

x

* * *

x

As he stood there overlooking the valley before him Vegeta again contemplated the many eccentricities that had led him to his present course. His planet's destruction at the hands of Freeza, Freeza then sparing his life and life at his personal court, a period he would rather forget at all costs and from which there were luckily no more witnesses left alive. Him having to bide his time and suffer Freeza's ministrations until he fell out of favour and was given a mission of certain death. Whereupon that idiot Radditz suddenly mentioned he had a kid brother living somewhere who could help them even the odds.

After that things changed and his life was no longer dictated by that fop Freeza. Instead he fell into Kakarot's eternal shadow, forever a step behind his hated arch rival. And now that he had finally managed to step outside Kakarot's damned shadow he found himself in yet another one. Life had indeed a perverse sense of humor.

It was during such soul-searching questions that Vegeta sometimes wondered what his life would have looked like if his father had succeeded in his planned rebellion. The other alternative, further deference and kowtowing to Freeza not holding much appeal. But a Vegetasei, free to seek its own destiny, now that would have been a sight to behold. And most appealing of all, with Kakarot marooned on Earth and not being subjected to his battle with him and later Freeza on Namek, there would be no chance in Hell of Kakarot ever being able to reach Super Saiyan before him.

Such were very satisfying daydreams. But they were daydreams nonetheless. Instead he should focus on breaking his current cycle, a cycle he was desperate to break free off, and for which he desperately needed to find a way to evolve into the next level. There had to be one. There just had to be.

But what?

Or how?

Try for all he might he just couldn't find a way out of his current predicament. Not without more time that is. And time was a luxury he didn't have.

Behind him he heard a soft cough. The whelp from the future sat there patiently for him to take notice.

Fat chance, Vegeta thought, you're lucky I didn't kill you when you were born. As was customary according to the ancient traditions of his homeworld. Unfortunately his homeworld was gone. And with it the force of its ancient traditions. Despite that Vegeta still felt that even in exile those traditions should be adhered to, to set him apart from the rest of the human chattel that inhabited this planet. There was no way in Hell that he was going to allow himself to be assimilated into this planet like Kakarot and even Movekk had done. The whelp should therefore be grateful that he was willing to forgo ancient customs and spare his miserable life. Consider that the culmination of all the fatherly love he was ever going to get.

Another cough followed, a more loud and annoying one, causing Vegeta to look over his shoulder in annoyance and to admonish the whelp. But instead of finding Trunks there he stared into the faces of his two fellow Saiyans.

"It's you," Vegeta said without batting an eye at Goku and Belmovekk's sudden appearance, "Go away."

Then Vegeta turned around and continued his stare into infinity.

"So how's the training going?" Goku asked Trunks.

"It's no good," Trunks said, happy to finally be able to speak to somebody again after days of being ignored by his father, "Father says I can only get in the way."

Then Trunks nodded towards Vegeta.

"And yet, despite saying all that, all he does is stand over there for days on end."

"I see," Goku said, then he jumped and landed right behind Vegeta.

"Go away, Kakarot," Vegeta said without looking back, "You're bothering me."

"I know what you're trying to do," Goku said, "Like me you're trying to look beyond Super Saiyan."

"Then you know I don't need your distractions," Vegeta replied calmly, but still not looking back, "Unless you happen to know the secret already. Which I strongly doubt."

For a moment Goku didn't reply.

"You know," he finally said as he looked aside, "Of all three of us you are probably the only one who studied Super Saiyan the hardest. To Belmovekk and me it just happened. You on the other hand had to work hard for it."

"Your point being?" Vegeta asked, still not looking back, "I'm suddenly the expert now?"

"In a way." Goku said as he began to smile, "I wouldn't be surprised if you managed to go beyond Super Saiyan first. But I do know one thing though."

"Which is?" Vegeta replied.

"Time is not on our side," Goku said, "And we do need it. Lots of it."

"All the more reason for you to get the fuck out of here and leave me to it," Vegeta remarked casually .

Goku's smile turned to a very Saiyan satisfied smirk.

"I know of a place where you can train for a whole year in a day's time."

x

* * *

x

It was funny how people could still go through the motions of daily life, even though the very reason for their very existence could have ceased to be. Nazi bureaucrats would continue to fill in and ask for reports even though the Allies and Red Army raced through the heart of Germany. And former Soviet bureaucrats would continue their business even though the Wall had come down and the USSR had been dissolved.

In times of great loss and stress people would often find comfort and relief in performing their daily rituals and tasks, even though the reasons for them no longer made any sense. With denial playing no small part in their little charade. So despite their no longer being a semi-ascended being in charge of the Lookout Mr. Popo continued his daily chores of taking care of the place. Not only was it very comforting, you never knew when a new Earth Guardian would come along.

So Mr. Popo was busy watering the plants in Kami's former garden when suddenly a whole group of people materialized out of nowhere.

To his credit he wasn't surprised much.

In fact the caretaker of the Lookout seemed quite pleased that there was still need for him when Goku explained to him what he was after.

"I see," Mr. Popo smiled, then he turned around and beckoned the others to follow him, "Come, follow me."

As the group followed Mr. Popo, Xander stayed behind, causing Buffy to stop as well.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked curiously. To which Xander shook his head.

"I know where it is," he said resolutely, "I spent a whole year inside, remember? There's no way in hell I go back in there, not unless I have to."

Giving Xander a brief understanding nod Buffy left him behind and rejoined the group.

"It only has a bathtub, toilet, food and beds," Mr. Popo said excited, "So train hard in there."

As they halted outside the door that gave entrance to the Room of Spirit and Time Vegeta turned to Goku.

"Kakarot," he asked somewhat curious, "Why do you want me to train as well? You know my intentions and that once this is over you're next on my list."

"Like I said," Goku explained earnestly, "If there is anyone who studied Super Saiyan and ways to become one its you. It gives you an unique insight into reaching the next level. But that aside, I don't think I can beat these opponents by myself. But I think you realized that as well."

Vegeta nodded briefly, then he began to sport an evil smirk.

"You might come to regret your decision, Kakarot," he said smirking.

"We'll pass that bridge once we get there," Goku smiled back.

Meanwhile Mr. Popo had unlocked the door to the Room of Spirit and Time and turned around to face the fighters.

"Who is going in?" he asked. Upon which Goku looked at Vegeta again.

"Vegeta and Trunks are going inside first," Goku said. Upon which Vegeta just walked inside. Trunks on the other hand looked hesitantly at Mayan who looked back even more hesitantly.

"Are you going to be alright?" Mayan asked worried.

"I'll be fine," Trunks nodded as he tried to keep up a stiff upper lip, "Its only a day in real life."

"Yeah but it's a whole year for you," Mayan countered, then she pointed towards the door of the Room of Spirit and Time, "With your father! Who's crazy!"

Trunks looked at the door for a moment.

"We grew up in crazy times," he said softly, "what's a little more crazy compared to that?"

"I'll miss you," Mayan said as she reached out and touched his cheek. In response to which Trunks reached out and put his hand on hers.

"I'll miss you even more," he said, then he kissed her briefly but passionately before walking towards the entrance.

"Thanks for letting us go first," he said towards Goku as he passed the mighty Saiyan.

"Train hard," Goku said solemnly, then he smiled, "And get to know each other."

Then Trunks stepped inside and Mr. Popo closed the door.

"Now only they can open it from the inside," the Djinn said.

As he did Mayan walked to a nearby bench and sat down on it.

"I hope that he's alright," she said worried, "He's going to be in there a whole year!"

"If I were you I'd be more worried about us," Buffy said as she looked towards the edge of the Lookout, "Somehow I have this idea that we might not make it until the next day."

x

* * *

x

Inside the Room of Spirit and Time Trunks was taken aback by the sight in front of him. Aside from a small structure with some creature comforts and a odd number of clocks and hourglasses there was nothing inside this room but vast white emptiness.

"There is nothing here," Trunks said aghast as he looked around, "Nothing but empty white space."

The only structure in this place stood on a small platform. As soon as Trunks left the platform and stepped on the white surface he felt increased gravity take hold of him, causing him to almost yelp in discomfort. Taking a moment to steady himself Trunks noted that the air was also thinner and hotter. Within moments beads of sweat began to form on his face.

"No wonder Goku could only stand this place for a month," Trunks panted, "I understand it now."

In fact he was starting to have serious doubts himself.

"This is perfect," Vegeta said contently, "I couldn't have asked for a better place. Kakarot will regret letting me go in here first."

Vegeta's boast brought Trunks back to the other side of his current reality. He was going to spend a year inside this place without Mayan. But with his father instead. What in blazes name had he gotten himself into?

x

* * *

x

Giles knew that Spike had entered his home the moment he heard the front door open, followed by the foul smell of cigarettes. Next thing Spike wandered into the kitchen and went straight towards the fridge where he fashioned himself a cup of pigs blood.

"By all accounts, make yourself right at home," Giles said sarcastically but Spike just shrugged.

"I wasted half a night waiting for those demons to show up," Spike said unimpressed, "I earned this."

The vampire then put the cup into the microwave and pressed some buttons to warm his blood.

With everybody occupied with the current Cell crisis and Giles in sole oversight of Sunnydale that left only Spike to help Giles keep an eye on things. The reasoning being that he could offer little in strength to defeat the androids and Cell and also, as a sort of semi-Gero enhanced cyborg posed too great a risk in case Cell would absorb him. That was the official reasoning. Unofficially the others were more then happy to not have the vampire around and for Giles to keep an eye on him.

But since the buck had to stop somewhere it now fell to Giles to keep an eye on Spike. And while it was helpful to have a fighter ready to move against all possible threats, it was still, well…., Spike?

And it's not like there were so many lethal threats left. Mostly it was just minor stuff. As head of the Committee Giles could handle it himself if need be. And for the rest Giles would prefer it to be able to call on the services of Willow.

Unfortunately for him Willow was too busy engaged in trying to track Cell. Every known locator spell failed to work on which led her to suspect that maybe there was a supernatural element to him as well. Maybe some form of demonic base in his genetic make up. Something not so strange considering that for a being that had so much human genetic make up he looked so much unremarkably so like one. So Willow had taken his demonic lore library and gone on the mother of all research parties.

So when the time had come for someone to investigate a possible new arrival from some demon cult that left only Spike.

"So, um, did they show up?" Giles asked Spike.

"There was bugger all," Spike said as he watched his cup of pigs blood rotate in the microwave, "Whoever told you that they were going to show told you fairy tales."

Ping!

His pigs blood warmed up Spike took the cup out of the microwave and made for the living room where he switched the television on.

"Look, you only waited for six hours, they might just have been la….." Giles protested, then he shook his head. Why even bother? They both knew waiting and patience weren't Spike's strong suits. Whenever that cult would arrive, the local demons would inform him and then Spike could be sent to give them a dressing down. In his usual violent idiom of course. He may be impatient but he wasn't averse to bullying and beating up fellow vamps and demons.

Leaving Spike to watching his soap operas Giles took his freshly made tea and settled behind his study desk and his real work, studying those damn Gypsy prophecies.

Cursing inwardly briefly for those damn Destinies to using riddles and hyperbole hidden in pure gibberish to communicate messages Giles resumed trying to wrestle meaning to what made no sense at all. Which was after all a proper job for a Watcher.

Even an ex-Watcher.

To bad those Destinies seemed unable to give him any more of a heads up about the upcoming events then CNN or any other news channel. Nothing more then clues which basically said guard well the androids or the excrement will really start hitting the fan.

To study the prophecies required a clear and open mind and Giles usually felt it took him anywhere from half an hour to a whole hour to get into that mindset, after which he felt almost able to separate those rare gems from the gibberish. So he was more then glad that Spike entertained himself with his soap operas rather then bother him.

Even though just being in the same room with a TV where a soap opera was on did have the adverse effect of lowering his IQ with at least 20 points. If not more.

He was about to reach the right mindset when suddenly Spike began to yell in frustration, causing Giles to sigh and then look up to see what was causing the vampire to behave like more then his usual ass.

"We interrupt this program for a breaking news story," a TV announcer said as a map of the Pacific North West appeared on TV, then that map zoomed in on Alaska, followed by a headline: The Hunt for Cell!

"He's moving fast now," Spike said from his chair as Giles stood up and walked towards his side.

"Oh dear," Giles said as he saw what was on next and without thinking pulled forth his polishing cloth.

x

* * *

x

"Incredible," Faith said as she walked through yet another empty barracks.

"We're going to need a bigger boat," Yamcha said without thinking as he quoted Chief Brody from Jaws, right after he first sees the shark, "I hope Goku gets out of that chamber soon."

They had arrived at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, as fast as they could after somebody at the base had called mayday. Fort Wainwright, home to the United States Army 172nd Infantry Brigade. And now a ghost town thanks to Cell as he had pulled his most audacious raid yet and attacked this US military installation. Up until now he had avoided directly attacking the military, only going for civilians and those soldiers, usually in small units, that happened to be in his way.

But now that he had attacked a whole military base there was no hiding it from the civilian population any longer that not even the military could protect them from this ferocious predator.

Leaving the barracks Faith and Yamcha made for a large square where they found Riley and some of his men. Overhead helicopters were bringing in more troops but the damage was done. What was left now was damage limitation and to keep as much of the truth away from the press.

As Faith and Yamcha joined Riley, another major, Jamison also joined them, carrying a paper list.

"He took out the base communications in no time," Burns said, "and the cell phone towers. That's why he was able to clean out the base before anyone was able to call for help. If it weren't the radios of the signals company we wouldn't even be the wiser now."

"Whatever hit them, it hit them so hard and fast that the base administration computers were still on," Jamison said, "He must have killed everybody here in less then ten minutes. That has got to be a record, even for him."

Riley didn't reply for a moment.

"How many," he finally asked downcast.

"Well, we were fortunate that most of the troops were deployed off base," Jamison said, "So out of 3500 about 2200 were out in the field."

"Thank god for small miracles," Krillin said.

"Yeah but that still for leaves civilian contractors and dependents," Riley countered, "The US Army is a volunteer army. That means that families live on the bases as well. That means a lot of women and children.

"The roster lists up to 1200 dependents," Jamison read from the list, "Including civilian contractors that means more then half of the victims were civilian."

"Damn!" Faith exclaimed.

"Bastard!" somebody else shouted in anger.

"You know that averages at about four persons per second," Yamcha said out loud, "That means they couldn't have suffered mu… au!"

An elbow to the ribs from Faith shut the Z-fighter up.

"Have some dignity," Faith whispered softly, "They just lost a lot of their own."

Rubbing his sore ribs Yamcha muttered something softly which sounded a lot like how much dignity can you have, all dressed in leather.

It was clear that the soldiers were aching for revenge after this particular outrage and they turned to the one person who they believed could still deliver that to them.

Piccolo.

The mighty Namek, who had been keeping himself aloof from the discussion, yet had heard everything turned around.

"What now, Piccolo?" Riley asked on behalf of the military.

"Nothing," Piccolo said wearing a stern face, "There is nothing we can do."

"You've got to be kidding," Riley exclaimed, "We have to do something!"

"We tried, we failed," Piccolo shrugged, "Although it pains me to say so Cell has outwitted us at every turn. I don't think we can stop him any more."

"Washington will be livid if we stop trying to catch Cell," Major Jamison said, "Something has to be done to stop Cell from killing more US citizens. Anything!"

The Namek turned around again and looked to the West.

"I think Cell has by now crossed over the Bering Strait," the Namek said, "In a way this was his goodbye card. To show us what he's capable off. That he no longer fears us."

"That would mean he's now the problem of the Russians," Burns said, "Does this mean that you're now going to help them instead."

"No," Piccolo said after some hesitation, "Cell is now too powerful for us. We need Goku and the other ascended Saiyans to defeat Cell."

"I'm waiting for tanks and Yanks," Jamison said softly.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked.

"It's a quote attributed to a French general in the 1st World War," the soldier explained, "That after three years of storming German trenches without success he was going to wait until he had new weapons and reinforcements before trying again."

"Smart guy," Faith nodded.

"It also meant he left it to his British allies to bleed themselves to death in the trenches," Jamison replied, "Make no mistake, while we do nothing, people will continue to die. Doesn't matter which side of the Bering Strait they're on."

Faith said nothing as she avoided the soldier's gaze. He was right. People were still going to die. So she went up to Piccolo.

"You've got to be kidding, Jolly Green," she said, "We're gonna do nothing now?"

"That's not what I said," Piccolo replied without looking back, "I said I can't do anything about Cell anymore. That's up to the Saiyans. But we can still stop Cell from becoming perfect."

"How?" Faith asked.

"By destroying the androids," Piccolo replied.

"They could be everywhere," Faith countered.

"That's why I want you to take Yamcha and go to Capsule Corp.," Piccolo said as he finally looked over his shoulder.

"Why?" Faith asked curiously.

"Because I doubt that the androids have stopped looking for Goku," the Namek said, "That means that they will probably check out the two places most associated with Goku."

Reaching into his tunic Piccolo gave Faith a cell phone.

"If the androids show up at Capsule Corp. call me and keep them occupied for as long as possible. I'll be at Roshi's. Either way that's where they will show up."

"That's a lot you're assuming there, Big Jolly," Faith said as she took the cell phone.

"And that coming from a girl who's named Faith," Piccolo smiled in return.

x

* * *

x

A day +11

x

As a new day dawned on the heavenly Lookout Buffy awoke from the make shift bed provided by the Lookout's Djinn. Of course bed being a misnomer as the wafer thin mattress and coarse blanket were anything but a bed. Especially at this height. But they had served their purposes and now it was time go look for something to eat.

A look at a clock showed that they still had several hours to go before Vegeta and his son were to emerge from that crazy time room. She was curious when she would get a crack at it but figured she'd be last in line, together with Xander. If Xander was going in there at all. He had been in there once before and seemed in no hurry to go back in there again.

Seeing no one around at the make shift sleeping area Buffy went in search of food and company. Emerging in the open she could see Goku and his son sitting halfway to the door of the Room of Spirit and Time and the edge of the Lookout. But not the others, which she found odd, as Mayan in particular seemed hell bent on staying as close to the door as was possible. She knew that Xander wouldn't go near that thing, that explained his absence but Belmo also seemed absent.

Scratching the back of her head for a moment Buffy contemplated choosing between finding food or the others. Then she figured the answer might be in both. The others were probably getting some breakfast as well, thus explaining their absence.

She was about to go off when she suddenly heard a voice whisper.

"Up here."

She looked up and saw Mayan's head peering over the edge of a building.

"Come," Mayan nodded.

"Up there? Me?" Buffy said flabbergasted, then she turned serious, "I thought you hated my guts."

"Yeah, I have issues much," Mayan said back, "Doesn't mean we're not in it together right now. And right now I feel like we're in it together lots of it."

"Oh goody," Buffy said as she jumped on top of the roof, "Daylight slumber party. Are we going to braid each other's hair and wear PJ's?"

"You're so odd," Mayan said as she shook her head, then she pointed towards a railing on the other side of the roof, Look!"

"Oh you have no idea," Buffy said, then she peered over the railing, then she looked at Mayan in surprise, "But that's Belmo?"

When looking over the railing Buffy could see Belmo standing by the edge of the Lookout.

"Of course it is," Mayan said as she made a lowering gesture, "And try to keep it down."

"Why?" Buffy asked surprised.

"Because I don't want him to know that we're watching him," Mayan said as she joined Buffy's side and cautiously peered over the railing.

"And you call me odd," Buffy sniggered, "Why are we playing crouching tiger, whispering dragon up here on the roof?"

"Because I find my father to be odd," Mayan replied.

"He's a Saiyan," Buffy shrugged, "they're born odd. And control freakery. Did I tell you he'd rather have my former boyfriend be a soulless monster then with me?"

"I might have heard something like that," Mayan replied looking over the railing, "Did I also mention that in my time, according to Auntie Willow, your boyfriend vampire went on a killing rampage for half a year that ended up getting a lot of people killed before you finally got your act together and sent him to Hell? All because in my time my father decided not to get involved. Be glad for his control freakery, because I think you now have a whole lot less blood on your hand."

Buffy wanted to protest, was about to speak when she suddenly changed her mind.

"Fair enough, but that still doesn't answer why we're here on this roof watching Belmo?" Buffy asked instead.

"Because I don't trust him," Mayan said matter of fact, "There's something odd about him. He's not what I expected him to be."

"I don't think Trunks finds Vegeta to be quite daddy dearest either," Buffy countered, "and I don't see him sneaking up on the Prince of Dorkness."

"That's because Trunks knew his father was an asshole," Mayan said back, "It's only the scale of his asshattery that has him dumbfounded. My father on the other hand…. he seems different."

"How different?" Buffy asked curious.

"Two things," Mayan said holding up two fingers, then she pulled one finger down, "He's nothing like the 'take charge, rush into things' man Auntie Willow made him out to be. He fought the androids after they had killed Vegeta, knew that he was going to die and didn't flinch. This one on the other hand seems more hesitant. I don't know what it is, but ever since this Cell popped up he seems like he has lost his confidence. He even wants Goku and Gohan to go in next."

"So, he's sensible," Buffy countered.

"He's a coward," Mayan said shaking her head, "He let Piccolo do all the hard work chasing Cell, he's now going to let Vegeta and Goku do all the work for hi…."

SMACK!

Suddenly Buddy smacked Mayan in the face. Not hard, but enough to shut her up.

"Why did you do that for?" Mayan protested as she rubbed her cheek.

"Look, sister dearest," Buffy hissed angrily, "I don't know what your problem is, maybe I didn't tug you in at night, maybe everybody left you, but no more of this. In the three years that I know him I have seen Belmo go above and beyond for the people that he loves. He will move heaven and earth to help you, and frankly I don't even want to know half the things he's done for me."

"Fine," Mayan grunted unimpressed, "He's the Second Coming. Still doesn't change that he's not exactly been walking on water much lately now has he?"

"He'll probably has his reasons," Buffy said, "Sometimes its better to think first, then charge in."

"If you say so," Mayan said still unimpressed.

"So what's the other thing," Buffy asked.

"He talks a lot," Mayan said dead serious.

"Duh," Buffy snorted, "You should try Vegeta instead. Talk about someone in love with his own voice."

"To himself," Mayan said as she nodded towards Belmo, "He's been talking to himself for like half an hour now."

"Oh," Buffy said, then her eyes grew big as it dawned on her, "Oooooh, that thing."

"You know?" Mayan said as she looked oddly at Buffy.

"It's kinda complicated," she said as she bit her lip.

"Uncomplicate it," Mayan said.

"Well," Buffy said as she bit her lip even more, "Where to start really?"

x

* * *

x

"They're watching us," Amῡn said as he looked towards the roof where Buffy and Mayan were hiding.

"Who?" Belmovekk asked as he stared across the edge to the clouds below.

"The two girls, your daughters," the Goa'uld apparition said, then he turned his head to look at the Saiyan, "I told you she was having doubts about you. That you needed to rise to the occasion. Not drag your feet."

"I have my reasons," Belmovekk shrugged as he continued to stare.

"It will come to bite you in the ass though," the Goa'uld said as he began to smirk.

"Only if Vegeta does not come through," Belmovekk said back, causing the Goa'uld spectre to cup his chin and pretend to think.

"Gee, and I wonder where the fatal flaw is in that plan?" he said derisively, "Let me guess, its name starts with a V and ends with egita?"

"There is still Trunks as well," Belmovekk countered, "Whatever Vegeta learns in there, Trunks will pick it up as well."

The Goa'uld shook his head in dejection.

"How do you even sleep at night?"

x

* * *

x

"Breaking news from Russia may be the definitive proof that Cell is no longer in North-America," an excited CNN news anchor spoke with a map of Eastern Siberia behind him, "Authorities in the Russian Far Eastern district have said that they have lost all contact with the city of Magadan after earlier cries for help had been heard. If true this would mean that Cell has attacked the largest urban centre so far, as the city of Magadan has more then 160.000+ inhabitants."

"This comes after unconfirmed reports that the US Navy destroyer Albright came upon the Russian missile cruiser Riga adrift in the Bering Sea, its entire crew missing."

"In Washington Secretary of State Powell offered Russia help and expertise gained in the hunt for Cell. Powell's offer was immediately criticized by both leading Democrat and Republican senators, with Senator Kinsey as Powell's leading critic."

A clip of Senator Kinsey followed being interviewed by several reporters.

"While my heart aches for the people of Russia, we now have to concentrate on strengthening our own defenses," Senator Kinsey spoke into the camera, "After our recent losses its become clear that we were woefully unprepared for this Cell and rather then scatter our forces across the globe in a woefully ineffective chase Secretary Powell would do better to concentrate our forces right here at home. In case this Cell returns."

"That guy's an idiot," Tien said shaking his head dejected.

"All politicians are idiots," Krillin replied next to him.

"Some are bigger idiots then others," Tien countered.

They were sitting in Master Roshi's living room watching TV.

"That man's no idiot, just very adept at telling his voters what they want to hear," Piccolo said, then he balled his fists in anger, "Damn you, Cell. Haven't you had enough!"

"I guess not," Krillin said as he got up and went into the kitchen to fetch himself a sandwich, "I'm getting something to eat, anyone want something?"

"I'm fine," Piccolo said.

"Just some noodles," Tien said.

"You know what I want," Master Roshi replied.

"Do I ever," Krillin muttered softly as he went into the kitchen. He had spent way too many years in this place and gotten to know Roshi way too well for comfort. Once this was over he should go out and get himself a place of his own. One where he could finally bring home a girlfriend. Hell, he'd settle for a place where there finally were some girls to be found, period!

In the kitchen he allowed his mind to wander about what it would be like while he prepared the food almost without thinking on auto pilot. Slicing some bread he next added all the goodies that made a good sandwich worthy of the name. Namely lots of dead animal, cheese, sauce and skimpy on the green things. Next he put on some water to boil the noodles and then took out the ingredients to make Roshi's favorite post breakfast slash pre-lunch treat.

As he sliced the sausage Krillin wondered what it would be like to have a girlfriend. Not a crazy one, like Yamcha always seemed to end up with. A normal one. She didn't have to be a stunner. Just be reasonable and…. Hell, who was he kidding, right now he'd settle even for a crazy one.

Like that Android #18. She looked hot. The kind where you had to go the bathroom and enjoy some 'private' time, just from thinking about her. He could see her even now, as he stared ahead blankly through the kitchen window. And Android #17. And Android #16. And….

What the hell?

Why were the other two androids in his day dream?

And that's when it dawned upon Krillin that he wasn't having a daydream.


	19. Between the Darkness and the Light'

**Interlude:**

' **Between the Darkness and the Light'**

x

x

AN: _Another one bites the dust._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 9 years, 4 months, 12 days, somewhere, sometime

x

Five more years!

x

Five more years of constant defeats.

x

Five more years of constant setbacks.

x

Five more years of death.

x

Five more years of watching plans go to failure.

x

Five more years of no hope.

x

Five years of where she had to watch how two small children were being forced to grow up fast and train instead of being allowed to be children.

x

Five years of having to take care of the empty shell that used to be her best friend.

x

But not any more!

x

* * *

x

After Xander had been killed and Buffy reduced to a shadow of her former self it had fallen to Willow to take care of both Buffy and little Mayan. And even little Trunks as well as Bulma had more and more buried herself in her work. Making Willow more and more the de facto mother of the two children. A burden which she sort of shared with Gohan, who by training the children had assumed the role of father figure.

It had not been easy, Hell, it had been extremely hard.

Easiest to take care of physically and yet emotionally the hardest was taking care of Buffy. The Slayer had completely withdrawn herself into a fantasy world of her own, or at least that was what Willow hoped. She reacted to outside stimuli in the sense that she allowed herself to be fed and cleaned, but overall taking care of Buffy was like taking care of a completely demented parent. She was there physically but her mind was gone. Only occasionally asking when Xander would return.

While emotionally draining for her it was even harder on Mayan. How do you explain to a small child that your big sister, who had promised to look out for you, suddenly no longer did? Completely ignored you from this point on? Mayan had talked, screamed, cried and hit Buffy to try to gain her attention but to no end. And now the child completely ignored her big sister. Like she was dead to her. And that, to Willow, was the greatest tragedy of all.

With Buffy and Xander gone Gohan's plans to take on the androids had come to nothing, in fact they had been set back for years. Those few times that he had taken the field against the androids he had barely escaped with his life, one time even being beaten to within an inch of his life.

Realizing that he needed both time and help to beat the androids Gohan had begun to train Trunks and Mayan fulltime. Bulma at first had been dead set against allowing Trunks to train, he being her son, but the kid actually stood up to his mother and insisted he'd be allowed to have his go. It was both frightening and amazing to see these half-Saiyan kids display such emotionally adult behavior at such young behavior, although Gohan wasn't that much older when he had to take on the role of the Planet's sole defender.

So now that Gohan was busy training these two children Bulma had gone into full 100% overdrive into coming up with a way of her own to defeat those androids. With everybody busy on coming up with ways to defeat the androids Willow had been relegated to working acquisitions when the kids where being trained. Making sure both Gohan and Bulma had everything they needed to keep going with their projects.

But that didn't mean Willow wasn't working on a super weapon of her own.

Acquisitions meant making deals with far away places and having access to all the wealth that Capsule Corp. still had. Which meant that by post-Android Invasion standards she had access to the greatest source of wealth left in the world. This was necessary to obtain all the spare parts to keep the gravity gym going, or whatever else Bulma needed for her projects. It also gave Willow the opportunity to make some acquisitions of her own.

The destruction of Sunnydale, London and almost all the major cities housing Wolfram and Hart offices meant that many of the world's most eminent occult libraries had been lost.

But not everything.

And becoming head of acquisitions gave Willow the perfect opportunity to scavenge the Earth for whatever occult knowledge still remained in this world.

When she had still been in Sunnydale Giles' former girlfriend Jenny Calendar had come to realize that Willow had great potential for magic and taken her under her wings. She had never told this to anyone but that had been the happiest time of her life. Jenny's murder at the hands of Angelus not only cut short her magic training, it also irrevocably ruined magic for her. After that both Giles and Belmovekk had tried to teach her but Willow felt her heart wasn't in it any more.

It was when she had left Sunnydale for San Francisco and when she realized that she liked girls a lot more then she did boys did Willow realize that maybe the reason she had given up on magic was because of Jenny. Giles' girlfriend had after all been extremely pretty and the fact that she was a gypsy had given her an very attractive exotic quality. Maybe she had enjoyed magic so much back then because she had a crush on Jenny Calendar?

Anyway the point was moot. She had a new life in San Francisco with one of the world's leading hi-tech firms and she enjoyed her new life.

It was only years later, on that fateful day when Xander died and Buffy became a crippled mental wreck that Willow realized that brawn and technology had failed them. And that maybe now was the time for magic again.

Scavenging the word's remaining occult knowledge Willow began studying the black arts again. Occasionally her work meant traveling outside San Francisco to little hidden towns and hamlets where there were still some magic practitioners and demons who could teach her things. And slowly, over time, Willow felt her powers grow.

It was imperfect, she lacked proper training and deep down she knew that she was growing too fast in her power, and that the magic would ultimately consume her. But if it meant that she could take down the androids with her, or at the very least one of them, than that was a price worth paying for. And frankly if she no longer had to live in a world where her friends were all dead, or be as good as dead, then that was also a price worth paying for.

So when Willow, officially on one of her acquisition trips, had come down to Sunnydale she didn't expect to come back alive.

Buffy and Xander had told her that the place had been leveled, and she had seen many other places that had been destroyed by the androids. But seeing was each time still believing. And seeing Sunnydale for the first time since the Android Invasion was still quite a shock.

Nature had rapidly reclaimed most of Sunnydale, with plants and weeds now covering a lot of the ruins. The places that she used to visit, her home, Buffy's home, Giles' place, the Bronze, all gone.

Of course Sunnydale High had been destroyed long before that.

And that was where she was heading.

As she entered the grounds of what was once Sunnydale High Willow made straight for what had once been the library, their former headquarters. And also the heart of the Hellmouth. It was easy to find as it was the only place where nothing grew, the soil withered and barren.

Standing on top of the round circle Willow put her backpack down at the circle's edge. She had found what she was looking for.

x

* * *

x

Hellmouths were funny things, as Willow had learned in these past five years. Almost every known Hellmouth in the world had been situated in urban areas. And almost every known town or city with a Hellmouth had been leveled since the Android Invasion. You'd think that with the humans gone demons would take over control of their local Hellmouths.

But they didn't!

Across the planet surviving Watchers had noticed two trends. Not only were cases of demon and vampire attacks declining, demons seemed to be shunning the sites of Hellmouths. There were exceptions, like a few cases of demons ethnically cleansing humans from their lands. But they did so in the hope that by killing off, or driving off humans they would be spared by the androids.

Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case.

She and other Watchers still weren't sure if the androids knew about demons or not, but they did seem to know about aliens, after all, Goku, Vegeta and Belmovekk had been aliens. So Willow figured that the androids lumped all intelligent non-human life in the alien category and slaughtered them just to be safe.

That still left unexplainable why the Hellmouths were left abandoned. Many had extensive underground tunnels that were perfectly capable of hiding large groups of demons from the seeing eye. And yet Watchers had reported no such thing.

It was a puzzle which had confounded many in the occult community but Willow thought she knew the answer. What drew demons to Hellmouths wasn't just the demonic emanations, it was the people. People to hide among, people to use and of course people to feed upon. With no people living on a Hellmouth, what was there to draw demons in? Other then bask in its demonic emanations.

But as far as Willow knew no demon species existed that could survive on Hellmouth emanations alone. But 100% of the demon species that preyed upon humans needed humans to prey upon, and 100% of all harmless demon species needed humans to barter with or hide among. Case in point, the Sunnydale Hellmouth where she currently was. Always a minor one, until a certain Wilkins took charge and built a town over it, after which it took off.

But the current desertedness of the Sunnydale Hellmouth suited her perfectly. For she was going to do some pretty arcane stuff that she would prefer not to be interrupted with. For Willow Rosenberg was going to open the Hellmouth and summon forth something so dark and terrible that it would make even Androids #17 and #18 shit their pants.

x

* * *

x

Eight hours later Willow was dripping with sweat, but still no step closer to her goal. She didn't understand it though, she had done everything she was supposed to do. She had created at least a dozen different small altars, each with their own spices and sacrifices burning, many of which had been extremely hard to obtain. She had performed the correct rites, adorned herself with the correct markings and drawn the correct markings on the floor. The best result she'd gotten so far was the demonic equivalent of you can leave a message, right after the beeb.

It would seem that even the netherworld was afraid of taking on these androids. That was unfortunate.

But not unforeseen.

Never let it be said that Willow Rosenberg would go on a mission unprepared. When she had still been research girl she would often give Buffy extensive clippings of every kind of demon she could expect, with all the information she needed and then some, including how often said demon needed a toilet break. She was contingency girl and she had prepared even for this one. If the demons of the immediate netherworld weren't going to come out it was time for plan B. She would summon something from the deeper netherworld. Something that made demons of the immediate netherworld shit their pants.

Of course it probably meant it she was going to die, but she had planned for that as well. You can't summon powerful demons from the Hellmouth and walk away unscathed. If they agreed she was going to fry regardless. Only she had planned to offer herself and her soul up for eternal torment after the demon had defeated the androids. Now she was probably going to die during the summoning, leaving the demon free to roam the Earth after it had defeated the androids.

But that was okay. This world wasn't worth living anymore. All her friends were gone, most of the planet had regressed back into the middle ages, with slavery rearing its ugly head again. With the quality of life having declined for most people she might even do most people a favor.

A sane person might have called this kind of reasoning crazy.

But then again sanity had also left this planet long ago.

Still, sanity hadn't completely left Willow Rosenberg. Even Willow in her present state wasn't that crazy. She was after all contingency girl. Even a demon of the Demon Lord variety could be warded off with the right kind of spells and magical markers. And for the past months she had placed these around the greater San Francisco area just in case for that. Even if the demon lord, or his minions, that she was going to summon to fight the androids were going to kill humanity as well that would still leave enough people to start over again. And her loved ones in particular.

Was it wrong to think like that?

Probably, but then again Willow was no exception to the rules of the monkey sphere. Your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues were tangible. Humanity as a whole was harder to comprehend. Now maybe if she was Buffy in her glory days back in Sunnydale Willow would care for the rest of the world. But right now Willow was perfectly willing to settle for just San Francisco and the people in it.

Drawing new occult symbols around herself Willow then lit new candles to replace the old ones, then she restocked the altars. It was going to be a long session. Then she reseated herself in the center of her circle of power. And protection

For as long as it would last.

Speaking her incantations Willow began her summoning spell. She was already tired from her previous attempts but she figured she could still do this. And for half an hour she patiently spoke her spells.

As she did, little did she know however that she was being watched.

"Bored!" Android #18 said bored, sitting on a large concrete boulder as her sibling watched what the redhead was doing. She had her feet up against another boulder as she sat hunched against another. All that was missing to complete the Steve McQueen picture was her throwing a baseball against a wall and then catching it again.

"So bored," Android #18 said again, then she looked at her sibling, "Tell me again, why are we not killing her?"

"Because she's doing something unusual?" Android #17 said back, "She seems to be trying to summon something."

"Another demon?" Android #18 moaned blasé, "What makes her think she can do where the others failed?"

It would come as a giant shock to Willow and the surviving Watchers, but by now the androids had gathered quite some knowledge in regard to the supernatural. Especially in the early days magic had been used against them a lot, with little effect. Occasionally they still came across some magic, usually by people or demons trying to hide their existence. Too bad for them obfuscating magic didn't work on advanced technology. Sensors could see right through illusions that were optimized to fool the human eye.

In the early days magicians, warlocks, witches, wizards and mages had tried using their magic against the androids to no success. In the end the power of each individual's will was no match for the sheer infinite energy that each android possessed. In the end all surviving magic practitioners either moved to more favorable realms, or tried to hide themselves.

But that period in time had given the androids quite the education in the occult, something which they gradually expanded as they killed more of both humans and demons alike.

So when the androids came upon Willow traveling in the wastes of Southern California they recognized her from her Capsule Corp. affiliation. Out of curiosity they followed her to the ruins of Sunnydale. But when she started her ritual to summon demons they also recognized that as well. It wasn't the first time somebody had summoned a demon from the netherworld to fight them. Without much success for that matter.

It was also why Willow found it hard to summon a powerful demon. Past experience had taught them to be very hesitant when it came to dealing with the androids.

Seeing her set up shop to summon a demon almost caused #18 to kill Willow outright, but she was stopped by #17 stating it had been quite some time since they had a 'real challenge'. And that he was curious as to what kind of thing she was going to bring into this world.

So the androids had played the waiting game, something which #18 hated but which #17 seemed to excel at.

"Because she's the first one in a long time to do this?" #17 said as he patiently watched Willow, "Because we're due for something interesting? And because she's more then taking her time?"

"She's taking her time alright," #18 muttered aggrieved.

"It will probably be spectacular," #17 said smiling.

"It better be," #18 said back, "It better be!"

Meanwhile Willow felt that all her prayers and supplications to the deeper netherworld were finally going to result to something as the flames in the altar before her were starting to increase in size and were starting to move in some unseen wind.

"Who dares to disrupt the great A'Tuin," a disembodied voice then spoke slowly from the flames.

"It is I, Willow of Rosenberg," Willow said. For a moment there came no reply.

"You are known to us," the disembodied voice replied, "You helped cause the downfall of He Who Was Once Known As Wilkins."

"Great A'Tuin," Willow said imploringly, "I call upon you to hear my call and do my bidding!"

A deep rumbling laughter followed.

"Puny human," the disembodied voice said with a deep bassy sound, "I am a Demon Lord, not some lowly demon that you could summon to be your puppet. I come on my own accord and my own terms."

Willow seemed taken aback by the reply, but she quickly recovered.

"I will offer you great sacrifices and riches," Willow said as she pointed to various bowls of herbs and spices. Some of them were burning, others weren't, but then again they already smelled foul enough by themselves.

"I do find them most appealing," the disembodied voice of the Demon Lord spoke, sounding slightly pleased, "Let it be understood that the great A'Tuin understands the great effort it took you in this day and age to get them. But they are only pleasing in the context of this audience. As you humans say, you've paid for the audience, the rest will cost you."

"Great A'Tuin," Willow said as she pulled forth a small knife and made a cut in her left hand, letting the blood drip on a burning candle, "I summon thee to destroy androids #17 and #18 and rid this planet of their presence."

"I see," the demon voice spoke, "And what do I get out of this bargain?"

Willow held up her bleeding hand.

"My life," she said resolutely.

"Puhlease," A'Tuin's voice snorted, "I could take that any time I wanted, "Your wards and protections are no match for my power. Offer me something true of worth."

It wasn't completely true, and both the Demon Lord and Willow knew it as a human with the magical power of Willow was a pretty big coup to land in the netherworld. If that demon wasn't a Demon Lord that is.

But a Demon Lord's price was higher.

"I grant you the freedom to roam and feast upon this world for a whole month," Willow offered without batting an eye, "To do as you see fit, Lord A'Tuin."

"Mmm," A'Tuin's voice said appraisingly, "An interesting offer. One worth considering."

"So you're going to do it?" Willow asked hopeful, "Think of all the killing, all the slaughter. And all you would have to do is such a simple thing, such a little thing."

"I see that you do not offer complete free reign to this world," the Demon Lord said somewhat disapproving, "There are some parts that you have warded off with spells and wards."

"Only a single city, great lord A'Tuin," Willow said quickly, "That still leaves the vast majority of this planet to feast upon."

"Hmm," A'Tuin said as he mulled it over.

"Will you do it, o Lord A'Tuin?" Willow asked after the Demon Lord held his silence for almost a minute.

"I'm still thinking," the Demon Lord replied agitated.

"Sorry, my Lord," Willow said quickly, "I did not mean to cause off…"

"No, no deal," A'Tuin said cheerfully, "Have a nice day."

And with that the communicating flame resumed its normal burn.

"No," Willow said panicking, "You can't just go. I need you to… come back… no…"

Before she could finish her plea she felt air being displaced behind her. Then a female voice spoke.

"Can we _please_ kill her now?"

x

* * *

x

As it turned out Willow wasn't the pushover that the android thought she would be.

For if there was one thing that defined Willow, it was being contingency girl.

Foreseeing being ambushed by the androids Willow had stocked up on both protective _and_ offensive spells like she was a magical version of Rambo. And as soon as Android #18 tried to attack her the bitch got a nasty surprise.

"Ignite!" Willow yelled as she threw a fine powder at the android. As soon as it came into contact with the android it began to smoke.

"I think I'm on fire," Android #18 said as she looked surprised at the smoke coming from her clothes. Meanwhile Willow disappeared in a small poof as she touched a ring on her left hand.

"You underestimated her," Android #17 said as he ragged his fellow android, "Should have kept up your shield around those magical types, remember? Just take off your clothes."

"No you don't understand, nitwit," #18 said as she frantically tried to get rid of her smoking clothes, " _I'm_ on fire!"

The black haired android examined her closely as smoke continued to rise from Android #18's skin, even after she had taken off her clothes. Which by now had really caught fire lying on the ground.

"Well, you seem to be alright, #18," #17 said after he had finished his examination of the now naked and still smoking female android.

"Only because I'm starving myself of oxygen in a half inch layer around my skin, you twit! I'm still on fire!"

"Oh, somebody was on a killing spree in England," #17 said snide.

"I'm going after that bitch," #18 said through gritted teeth as she stormed past Android #17.

x

* * *

x

They found Willow not that far from where she had disappeared. The teleport ring that she had used to escape only had a limited range. And was single use only. Stranded too close to the androids to escape Willow had no other means to escape. She could try an obfuscation spell but past experience had proven that the androids could see right through that.

So the ring might not have taken her to real safety, it did provide her with the chance to prepare for a last stand. When the androids finally overtook her they found her standing in a new protective circle with her spells at the ready.

Android #18 charged headlong into Willow, only to come against a hard and sudden stop as she impacted against a shield.

"I Will Tear You Apart!" Android #18 yelled livid with rage as she pounded on the shield, for now with little success.

"Oh yeah?" Willow said as she held up both hands and golden fireballs appeared in them, "Then eat death, you bitch!"

Next thing Willow threw them right in #18's face.

"Bitch!" #18 yelled angrily as she tried to deflect the magical energy attacks, "Now you're really going to get it!"

"What are you gonna die, tear me apart some more?" Willow grunted, then she stopped firing fireballs, closed her eyes and brought her hands in front of her face like in a prayer, "Hecate, goddess of power, grant me my vengeance and summon me, FIRE ELEMENTAL!"

At first nothing happened, then the air began to spin to Willow's right. Slowly at first, then faster, faster and faster until the air reached a critical point and ignited, creating a small tornado of fire.

"Destroy that….. that thing!" Willow said towards the pillar of fire, which then moved towards Android #18.

"You've got to be friggin' kidding me!" #18 said, her skin still smoking as the pillar came towards her, then she looked at Android #17, "How about a little help here?"

"You're doing absolutely fine there, #18," #17 said encouragingly as he seated himself on a large boulder, "Strike a blow against backwards mysticism and ignorance in the name of science!"

"Useless git," #18 muttered as she returned her attention to the pillar of fire, then she charged headlong into the thing, only to be greeted with fiery bolts of lightning.

"This is great!" Android #17 said as he watched his sibling fight the tornado of fire.

Using a shield of power #18 fought against the tornado's onslaught, trying to stem the tide of energy. For minutes she struggled at the heart of the fiery tornado, then suddenly the tornado's energy rose into the air, taking Android #18 with it, then it began to rapidly implode.

As it did Willow gestured around herself and large boulders and pieces of debris began to rise into the air.

"Catch!" Willow said as she made a throwing motion towards the android and all the floating debris launched itself at breakneck speed at the android, all coming together with the contracting fire elemental in one coordinated attack. And the only thing more loud then the sound of the fire elemental's implosion was the sound of dozens of large boulders crashing into each other.

As the dust and rubble fell to the ground, Willow stood there panting. Now for the other one.

Then suddenly she heard the sound of slow hand clapping behind her.

Clap, clap, clap.

As she turned around she saw Android #17 standing inside her protective circle.

"How….," she asked as the android stopped clapping.

"The wind of your elemental," #17 said smirking in her face, "Not so good for markings drawn on loose sand. It makes for, shall we say, imperfections in your shield?"

Then he lashed out with his elbow and hit her in the face and it was lights out for Willow.

Taking care to erase the markings Android #17 picked up the now unconscious witch and threw her over his shoulder. Next he walked over to the newly created mountain of boulders and debris.

"Whenever you're ready, #18," he said as he waited patiently for the mountain to stir, as #18 threw off the rubble on top of her. Then she dusted herself off and revealed herself to be still smoking.

"Wasn't that fun?" Android #17 smiled at his sibling android.

"It will be once I rip that witch apart and stuff her asshole down her mouth," #18 said back slowly but still full of anger.

"Always with the violence," #17 said as he slowly shook his head, "Why not something more creative?"

"Got anything in mind?" #18 asked.

"As a matter of fact," #17 said grinning from ear to ear as he tapped Willow's unconscious behind, "since she's a witch who seems fond of fire, why not give her the traditional witches sending off instead?"

x

* * *

x

Flying like the hounds of Hell were on his tail Gohan made for Sunnydale. He just prayed that he wasn't too late.

He had been training in the gravity gym with Trunks and Mayan when he had suddenly sensed that something was wrong, somewhere down south. Something dark, something terrible was brewing there.

Just as soon as he noticed something was odd the gravity went down to normal, then Bulma walked in. Figuring she owned the place Bulma never bothered using the intercom if she had to talk to someone inside the gym.

"Something's wrong," both Gohan and Bulma said in unison.

"Now that's freaky," Bulma said looking at Gohan.

"What is it?" Gohan asked, experience had taught him that every time Bulma interrupted their training sessions something bad was going on.

"Willow's gone," Bulma said sounding very excited.

"Yeah, I know," Gohan replied as he wiped the sweat of his face, "She's on a supply run with the army train."

"No, that's what she was supposed to do," Bulma said shaking her head, then she held up a book, "This is her diary. Which she told Henry to give to me 15 minutes ago."

A sinking feeling suddenly took up residence in Gohan's stomach.

"Why 15 minutes ago?" he asked, fearing the answer he might hear.

"Because she says she's going to raise a friggin' demon, that's why!"

From that point things started to go pair shaped. As Bulma showed Gohan the relevant passages it became clear that dear Auntie Willow was up to some serious black magic juju. All to defeat the Androids. And if that didn't work, she was going to end the god damn world. What was left of it. Or most of it.

After that it was clear that what he had sensed down south had to be Willow working on her magic. In Sunnydale, where a Hellmouth was supposed to be.

Upon hearing that her beloved auntie Willow was somehow in danger Mayan went ballistic and had to be restrained by Gohan and Trunks not to take off and go to Sunnydale. The girl was going hysterical and in the end Trunks was forced to knock her unconscious. The universe may have forced Gohan to give up his childhood at an early age but he would be damned before he was going to let the same thing happen to Mayan. She simply wasn't ready to go out there and face the Androids.

Or demons for that matter.

After making sure she was secure Gohan had taken off and flown down south, hugging the coastline. He had never been to Sunnydale when it was still there, let alone when it had been destroyed but the place didn't seem to hard to find. It was like it was emanating a metaphysical stench that got worse as you got closer. Almost nauseating in fact.

Doing his best to keep a grip on his stomach Gohan reached what used to be Sunnydale. And unfortunately he didn't have to look long.

As he landed Gohan just had to take one look and then he dropped on his knees, puking his guts out.

Dammit! He was too late!

How was he supposed to face Mayan after this?

In between his bouts of grief Gohan continued puking until he had nothing left to puke. Finally, after the retching no longer produced anything Gohan wiped his mouth, then he stood.

"They will pay for this," he hissed slowly, then he unleashed some of his chi to put out what remained of the large bonfire in front of him. A pyre of burned wood and other combustibles, left over from the town's demise, all leading up to a large stake. Onto which was tied the charred corpse of Willow Rosenberg, last of the Scoobies.


	20. Chapter Ten

**Chapter 10**

' **A Wolf At the Door'**

x

x

AN: _We've passed the halfway point, people. 9 chapters and interludes for your amusement. The Eye of the Storm! I've been looking forward to writing this chapter in particular even before I even came up with Original of the Species. Back then when I had about the beginning of an idea of a crossover with the DBZ verse and an original character that would become Belmo. And I'm very much ashamed to say but at the time the Mary Sue was strong in him at that time. And just make to make ShadowMaster cringe, the pairing I had in mind at the time was Belmo with #18. I'm glad to say the story took me in a different direction. I'm pretty sure something you readers are all probably thankful for._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 11

x

"Uh..., Piccolo," Krillin said apprehensively as he slowly stepped out of the kitchen backwards.

"Not now, Krillin," the mighty Namek said annoyed as he watched the news, "I'm trying to watch the news. Cell's very busy abroad."

"I think you should watch the local news instead," Krillin said slowly.

"Which channel?" Tien asked as he reached for the remote.

"Uh, right outside?" Krillin said as he turned around and others could see his face. His eyes were big as saucers.

Tien at Piccolo looked at Krillin, then each other, then they both rushed towards the front door.

Stepping outside they saw the three androids there waiting for them, Androids #17 and #18 up front and the tall silent #16 behind them.

"Hiya," Android #17 smiled as he pocketed his hands, "Can Goku come out to play?"

What was it again, that Chinese word for trouble also meaning opportunity?

"I…., it's…, t…, the androids," Krillin stammered as he joined Piccolo and Tien.

"Thank you, I haven't noticed yet," Piccolo replied curd.

"Goku's not here, isn't he?" Android #17 said as his smile faded.

"Very perceptive of you," Piccolo said, causing #17 to nod.

"And you wouldn't happen to know where he is, say, right now?" #17 asked.

Piccolo looked at Krillin, then at Tien before replying.

"For argument sake, let's say we do, what makes you think we would tell you?" Piccolo said as he crossed his arms before his chest.

"Maybe," #17 said as a strong breeze began to blow through his hair, "but if you don't we'll just have to force it out of you."

Piccolo looked at Krillin and Tien, giving each a very slight nod before replying.

"Go ahead and try," the Namek replied deadpan, then he pointed towards the Southwest, "There's a small deserted island that way. Why don't we go there so you can try?"

Android #17 let out a small sigh.

"They never learn, do they," he said slightly disappointed, "Alright, lead the way."

"You guys better stay here," Piccolo said to Krillin and Tien, "and tell Major Riley that I'm engaging the androids."

"Will do," Tien said solemnly. And then Piccolo took off with the androids.

"Do you think he can win?" Krillin asked Tien as they watched the quartet disappear on the horizon.

"Against all three of them? Doubtful," Tien said shaking his head

"Damn!" Krillin said as he balled his fists in impotent anger, "At least some of those Saiyans should have been finished by now. I hope he can hold on until then."

x

* * *

x

"I've done it! I've done it!"

Yelling triumphantly Bulma came running into the Capsule Corp. living room, where Faith and Yamcha had been hanging out, only to be greeted by dejected faces.

"What?" Bulma asked as she stopped dead in her tracks, "Why with the funeral faces? Who died?"

"Krillin just called," Yamcha explained, "Piccolo…, the androids…"

"They killed him?" Bulma said aghast.

"No," Yamcha said shaking his head, "but they came to Kame House. And now Piccolo went with them. They're gonna fight."

"Then why with the long faces?" Bulma asked, "I thought that was the plan al along?"

"It's still three against one," Yamcha said.

Then Faith, who until now had kept her silence erupted.

"I'm going out there," she said as she stormed towards the exit, "I don't care if I just get in the way. I'm making it my business to be in the way."

"Wait!" Bulma called out after Faith.

"What?" Faith said slowly as she halted near the door, "Are you going to give me 'the speech' as well? Cause I officially don't care."

Instead of giving her the speech Bulma began to grin instead.

"I have something for you that's gonna even the odds."

x

* * *

x

"If you don't tell us where Goku is I will kill you this time," #17 said after they had touched down on Piccolo's deserted island.

"I won't be so easily beaten as I was last time," Piccolo replied calmly as he took off his cape and turban. Throwing them away Piccolo faced the three androids.

"I really can't understand why you want to fight when you know you can't win," #17 said somewhat puzzled, "Maybe you're just buying time. Or maybe you're just stupid."

Piccolo didn't reply. Instead he just smirked.

"Well, here I am," #17 said as he held up both arms in a welcoming gesture, "Come and get me."

Piccolo's eyebrow went up as his eyes darted from Android #17 to the other two, who merely were making themselves comfortable on some nearby rocks.

"I only have to fight you?" he asked both somewhat surprised and hopeful.

"Of course," Android #17 said confidently, "Although actually it's a waste of time for me to fight the likes of you."

Great, Piccolo thought elated, if I only have to fight one I stand a good chance of winning. Just destroying one would completely derail Cell's chance of becoming perfect.

Sensing that this was now _his_ time, Piccolo began to concentrate and power up. Closing his eyes for a moment, Piccolo took a deep breath, then his power erupted as massive white chi flames came to life around him, blasting the three androids with strong gale force winds.

"What the….," Android #17 said surprised.

"That's not Piccolo," the tall #16 said out loud, trying to make himself heard above the wind.

"What?" Android #17 tried to ask. But before he could get an answer Piccolo launched himself at the android and smashed his elbow into the back of the android's neck, sending him on a crash course with a nearby rock face. But before the android could impact Piccolo jumped after him and kicked him facedown into the ground.

Seeing her fellow android getting humiliated Android #18 began to laugh as #17 tried to get up.

"Don't lau….," Android #17 tried to say, only to get blasted at almost point blank range by Piccolo. The resulting explosion was huge. Luckily for Android #17 he managed to escape at just the last millisecond and jumped into the air.

As he looked down at Piccolo the mighty Namek had at least succeeded at one thing. His smirk had been wiped off his face.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout, where by now everybody had gathered in front of the entrance to the Room of Spirit and Time, several fighters looked to the West.

"Somebody's fighting," Mayan said, sounding worried, "Something big.

"No, it's Piccolo," Goku said, "He's fighting someone."

"Is he fighting Cell?" Gohan asked.

"Doubtful," Belmovekk said shaking his head, "I'm not sensing any else."

"He must be fighting the androids," Xander said, "Talk about bad timing."

"Or maybe it's the right timing," Buffy quickly added.

"Piccolo will get killed!" Gohan said as panic began to take hold of him. He stood up and ran towards the edge of the Lookout.

"GOHAN! DON'T!" Goku yelled after his son, "They're far stronger then us right now. We'll only get in their way."

Halting at the edge Gohan stood there balling his fists in impotent rage.

"I'm sure Vegeta and Trunks will come out any moment," Goku said trying to convince his son, "They'll be more powerful and everything will be alright."

"Yeah and pigs might fl…., auw!" Xander tried to say, when a painful elbow was shoved between his ribs.

"Not now," Buffy hissed softly.

"Come, sensei," Mayan said soothingly as she stood up and placed her arms around Gohan, "I'm sure everything will be okay,"

"Besides," Goku said as Mayan led Gohan back to the group, "Piccolo's gotten a lot stronger then you can think."

"I suppose," Gohan said grudgingly as he sat down in Mayan's lap, but he continued to peek towards the West.

As she tried to calm her future teacher Mayan couldn't help but notice that her own father seemed to be talking to somebody again. Somebody invisible. And it looked like he wasn't liking what he was hearing.

x

* * *

x

On the other side of the ocean somebody else also took notice.

Bravely ignoring the advice they had gotten from their American allies the Russian government had sent its troops towards Cell like he was just a normal conventional thread that some hefty dose of good ol' fashion Russian firepower and esprit de corps would overcome.

Unfortunately for the soldiers of the 5th Guards Tank division Cell wasn't some fortified Chechen position that could be safely bombarded from a distance. Cell moved all over the place. And he liked to close the distance. And once he had closed the distance not even the latest T-90 main battle tank could save you. So far the divisional headquarters had lost contact with two of its four regiments and if he could be bothered to pick up a radio Cell could tell them that they could now add a 3rd to that list.

Cell loved Russia. Not only was the government slow to learn how to deal with him, there were no more Z-fighters chasing him. It would appear that they had given up, allowing him way more freedom to operate out in the open.

It also helped that by now he had harvested more then enough humans to no longer be bothered about any Z-fighter, including Piccolo.

Cell was about to yank the last human survivor from an APC when suddenly he stopped and looked to the East.

"That strange chi," Cell mused out loud, "It must be Piccolo's. But what could make him fight so ha…."

Elated Piccolo let the Russian conscript fall and let him scour away.

"YES! The androids!" Cell said elated, "I've found them!"

And with that Cell took off and took to the skies in a blaze of white chi.

"I'm coming, my brothers! I'm coming for you!" Cell yelled happily as he disappeared into the distance.

Bewildered the Russian Army conscript watched as Cell disappear. What strange fortune had spared his life when the rest of his battalion had been ripped to shreds?

Or should he say, sucked to shreds?

His relief at finally no longer being existence's buttmonkey was shortlived though as he suddenly heard the whizzing sound of something that could only be one thing.

A massive incoming artillery barrage.

It would seem that the 5th Guards Tank Division's headquarters had finally realized that the positions of its 3rd regiment had been overrun. Briefly the conscript pondered his existence as a Russian Army soldier, from being drafted, brutal basic training in the Urals, followed by a year of brutal hazing and abuse by the older conscripts. Being sent to Siberia, going up against Cell and now this. A brutal army career coming to a brutal end.

At least there was symmetry.

x

* * *

x

In the skies over the deserted island Android #17 was hard pressed as Piccolo was shooting obscene amounts of energy packets after him. And it wasn't that Piccolo was very meticulous about it, he was literally shooting them all over the place. But there were so damn many of them it looked like the night skies over war torn Baghdad.

As he dodged one attack after another it struck #17 as odd that a fighter of Piccolo's accomplishments turned out to be such a lousy shot. Something wasn't right. Something…..

As he looked around he suddenly noticed that he was completely surrounded by the energy packets that Piccolo had shot after him.

And then it dawned on him.

"Crafty bugger…."

On the ground below, with Androids #18 and #16 watching on like it was just a movie, Piccolo looked up triumphantly.

"There's no place to hide for you now," he said elated as his hands reached out to the skies, keeping a tight control on the many chi packets in the sky. Then he brought both hands together.

"NOW DIE!"

And then the energy packets all converged to place.

One place that just happened to occupied by one certain android.

x

* * *

x

As it was not that far from them both Tien and Krillin, joined by Roshi, saw a massive blast happening on the horizon.

"What is that?" Krillin said aghast.

x

* * *

x

"Sir," Pearl Harbour just called in," Colonel O'Neill said excited as he practically ran into General Hammond's office, "They've just seen a massive explosion somewhere southwest of Oahu."

"I know," Hammond said as he just hanged up the phone, only to start staring at a wall.

"Oh," O'Neill said as he finally understood, ""It's Them."

x

* * *

x

Folding his cell phone away Belmovekk joined the others waiting outside the Room of Spirit and Time.

"Do they know not to get involved?" Buffy asked, to which the Saiyan nodded in response.

"They know," Belmovekk said flat.

"Are they happy about it?" Xander asked.

"What do you think?" the Saiyan asked.

x

* * *

x

Having blown up the island with his attack Piccolo now also hung in the air, as did androids #16 and #18 behind him. Feeling rather smug that his elaborate plan had worked Piccolo waited for the dust to settle.

But then he noticed that the dust was starting to settle just a little bit to soon for comfort.

And then came the moment he dreaded most.

Inside a large round sphere of blackish energy, with tendrils of energy running across its surface Android #17 hung there in the air.

"He has a barrier?" Piccolo said dumbfounded.

"Is that all you got?" Android #17 said confidently as he switched off his barrier shield.

"Pff, the fight's only just begun," Piccolo said back, trying to sound confident. Inward he was anything but. He had really hoped to avoid a long drawn out slugging match and hoped that his elaborate attack would do the trick. Now it would come down to a battle of attrition. And in that Android #17 held the advantage with his infinite energy reactor.

"Let's go somewhere else," #17 said as he pointed over his shoulder, "A certain someone just wrecked our current island."

Next thing Android #17 folded his arms across his chest and began to look really smug.

"You know, you should really treat nature a lot nicer than that."

x

* * *

x

On the lookout everybody was so fixated on following what Piccolo was doing when they almost failed to notice that somebody else was also moving.

Instead it was Tien and Krillin who first noticed that Cell was on the move as well.

"Wha…. what's that?" Krillin said aghast as he suddenly looked towards the west, "It's coming this way."

"Ce…., Cell," Tien said horrified, "Good god, he's coming too."

Ring! Ring!

Suddenly the phone inside the house went off, causing Roshi to go inside. While the other two stood there in a pool of their own drool Roshi came out again a little later.

"It's Bulma for you guys."

"Talk about timing," Krillin muttered, but softly, in case she might hear it, then he replied into the phone, "It's me."

"I've got good news," Bulma's voice spoke through the phone, "Care to make a guess?"

"We're kinda in the middle of a crisis here, Bulma," Krillin said still worried, "Can we do this another time?"

"Make time," Bulma said annoyed, then she sounded cheerful again, "Guess who just found a weakness in those androids?"

"You did what?" Krillin exclaimed loudly, causing Tien to take notice, "She found a weakness in the androids."

"Not a moment to soon," Tien said relieved, "What is it?"

"Tien asks what it is?" Krillin asked.

"Both Androids #17 and #18 have shut down mechanisms built into them," Bulma said cheerful, "If they can't move, then they'll be easy to destroy, right? And guess who's just finished making a controller?"

Krillin told Tien what Bulma had done, which made him quite…. ecstatic?

"Awesome," Tien said excited, "If we destroy both #17 and #18 Cell can never reach his perfect form. We're saved!"

"Destroyed, huh?" Krillin said softly as he avoided Tien's gaze, then he spoke in the phone again, "Cell's already on the way. Unless you have instant transmission I don't think it will be of much use to us."

"Oh you're so wrong," Bulma said smug, "I gave it to Faith. She took off 15 minutes ago. She's probably halfway to you guys already."

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout amidst everybody focused on Piccolo, both Goku and Belmovekk suddenly looked at each other. A small nod followed as each understood that the other knew. But both said nothing.

It was Gohan who finally noticed that Cell was on the move as well.

"Father!" he yelled as he stood up from Mayan's lap, "It's Cell, he's coming!"

"I know," Goku said still sitting there cross legged. He looked worried but made no move to get up.

Please, Vegeta, hurry up, he thought, things are reaching the point of no return. Aren't you a genius? Shouldn't you have surpassed Super Saiyan by now?

"What?" Mayan exclaimed as she got up as well, "Cell's on his way to absorb those androids and we're doing nothing?"

"There is nothing we can do," Belmovekk replied, arms folded across his chest, "Cell's too strong for us now. Only Vegeta and Trunks can stop him now."

"They might take forever!" Mayan said angry as she gestured towards the Room of Spirit and Time, "Don't tell me you guys are going to sit here do nothing while Piccolo has to face the music alone!"

"Don't talk to him that way," Buffy said as she came to Belmovekk's defense, "If he says that…."

"Oh, can it, sis!" Mayan said cross, "I've had it up to here with your hero worship. As far as I'm concerned he's just a coward. And so is the other one!"

There!

She had said it!

But then something strange happened.

She could see Buffy start to say something, hell, she could even see that Xander was moving over and by the looks of it to restrain her.

But she couldn't hear anything.

It was as if all the sound in the world was being drowned out by silence. Except for a strange distant sound. A sound that sounded like harmonious overtones being imposed over something.

And then a voice spoke.

 _He is afraid._

Mayan looked around but couldn't see from where the voice was coming.

 _No, not there,_ the voice said, _inside._

And then it clicked.

She was hearing a voice inside her head.

 _Who are you?_

 _Maybe you have heard of me,_ the voice said, _your sister calls me your father's imaginary best friend forever._

Mayan was too stunned to reply.

 _I'm not sure what I am these days, but once I was a leader of men, a living god. I was called Amūn._

And then it clicked! Buffy had told her that her father had once been possessed by an alien parasite with delusions of being a God. He was dead now, yet somehow he lived on inside her father, talking to him from inside his sub-conscious. Or wherever he was. Using subtle means to influence her father, and sometimes not so subtle means. It was only because he had proved useful in the past and because an exorcism had yielded no result that he had been tolerated.

 _How can I talk to you, whatever the hell you are,_ Mayan asked, _aren't you supposed to be inside my father?_

 _Lets call it the miracle of Saiyan telepathy and leave it at that,_ the voice replied smug, _now listen up. I have much to tell you._

 _I don't have time for this,_ Mayan protested.

 _Then let's make time,_ the voice said, then Mayan noticed that things were starting to slow down around her, like everybody was moving and talking in slow motion.

 _Your father is afraid,_ the voice spoke, _he is afraid that he will die. Afraid that he will fail in his mission. I'm not sure where this fear is coming from, although I have my suspicions. It might be Them again._

 _Who is them,_ Mayan asked.

 _Those who are behind everything,_ the voice explained.

 _That's not much of an answer,_ Mayan retorted.

 _Do you want to have a geo-galactic and inter-dimensional discussion on who does what or do you want to do something about Cell,_ the voice said somewhat curd, _I can do that, but by the time we would be finished Cell will have won._

 _Then what do you want,_ Mayan asked.

 _Do this,_ the voice said. And then it explained.

x

* * *

x

It was good of Xander to step in or else Buffy would have ripped her future sister's head off. Now she was tearing her sister only a new asshole verbally.

But then the oddest thing happened. Mayan walked over towards Belmo and knelt in front of him. Then she reached out and took his hands into hers.

"I understand," she said in a soft tone that completely took Buffy by surprise, "Believe me, I understand. I know what its like to lose faith. To face certain death and the death of everybody you love. I have lived that life for longer then I care to remember. I was abandoned by everybody that I care for except Trunks. You, my sister and my mother died when I was too young to remember. Buffy and Xander when I was barely six. Auntie Willow when I was ten. And Gohan when I was fourteen. If I lost Trunks I would probably kill myself."

"But father, if you don't do anything now, you may not get a chance later. We don't know when Vegeta and Trunks are going to come out. But we do know that if Cell becomes perfect all their work will be for nothing. I'm not asking you to defeat Cell, but we sure could use someone to derail his plans, buy time for Vegeta and the love of my life to come out of there and take over. And then get the hell out again."

"She's right," Xander said as he let go of Buffy, "It's the battle of Sunnydale all over again. We bought time fighting the mayor, time for divine intervention to happen. Let's buy some time again."

"Please," Mayan said as she put her father's hands together, then she let go and pointed towards Buffy, "If it were her fighting the androids, not Piccolo, you'd be there already."

"Oh, please don't tell me she just played the Buffy card," Xander said as he gasped for air, then he winked at Mayan, "Well played, well played indeed!"

"I'm a card now?" Buffy said incredulously.

Belmovekk turned around and looked away, to the edge of the Lookout. And stared right into the smug face of a gold clad copy of himself.

"You put her up to this," he said accusingly, to which the Goa'uld specter shrugged.

"I wouldn't blow my own horn, but yes, I might have had something to do with that," he said smug, then his smug smile disappeared and his voice turned dead serious, "Whatever it takes, Saiyan!"

"Fine," Belmovekk said as he brought two fingers to his forehead, "Then I'll go and buy us some time."

"Be careful," Goku said.

"Am I not always so?" Belmovekk chuckled softly. Then he concentrated to perform his instant transmission.

But instead of hearing Goku make a smart remark as he winked away he heard a different voice. And a touch on his arm.

"Precisely why I'm coming along."

x

* * *

x

Over the skies over another island Piccolo and Android #17 continued their titanic battle, the effects of which could be measured in the not so distant US military bases near Pearl Harbour. The mere energy expended by the two fighters in mere hand to hand combat alone was sometimes loud enough to make it to Pearl Harbour.

Meanwhile the two other androids kept themselves aloof from the fight as they watched on.

"Piccolo has changed greatly since the last time," Android #18 remarked in a casual voice.

"He is not Piccolo," Android #16 stated again matter of fact, causing Android #18 to look at him.

"You said that before," she asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"He's bio-energy signature has changed since your last fight with him," #16 said, "Whatever it was, it has permanently and irrevocably changed him and increased his power five fold."

"That's a big increase," #18 said as she contemplated what #16 had told her, then she looked up to the sky where the fight was on, "It would seem that dear #17 has bitten off more then he can chew."

x

* * *

x

DOOM!

Another loud sonic boom rattled the windows of Roshi's place, causing some of them to shatter.

"I'm going to need new windows," Roshi said mournful as he inspected the damage.

"I feel like I'm back on Namek and Goku's fighting Freeza," Krillin said as he looked towards where the fight was going on.

"I missed that particular one," Tien said as he slowly shook his head, arms crossed across his chest.

"Yeah, you were dead at the time weren't you?" Krillin said looking at his fellow fighter and friend.

"King Kai gave us all the detail and blow by blow we needed," Tien said, "And all of the suspense as well together with a whole lot of bad comedy."

"I missed that, I died on Namek," Krillin said.

"What was that like?" Tien asked, we didn't see you in the afterlife so we figured you'd gone to the Namek version of it.

"I honestly don't remember," Krillin said after some thinking, "For the life of it I can't remember anything."

"That's strange, I remember everyth…..," Tien said, then he looked to the west again, "Cell's getting awfully close and Piccolo's no closer to winning."

"Maybe we should try and stop him?" Krillin said smiling, then his smile faded as he saw the serious look on Tien's face, "You've got to be kidding, right? There's no chance either of us can stop Cell, other then letting him take his sweet time as he kills us."

"I've got to do something," Tien said shaking his head, "I'm fed up being part of the cheerleading squad."

"But you'll die!" Krillin protested but Tien waved away Krillin's objections.

"As long as its honorable and saves the planet I don't mind dying," he said.

"I, but…., you'll…," Krillin tried to say, then he lowered his head, "I understand."

"Say goodbye to Chaozu for me," Tien smiled, then he launched himself into the air and flew towards where the fight was.

"Don't go, Tien, you'll only get yourself killed for nothing! There's nothing you can die!" Roshi called after him, then the old martial arts master fell on his knees, "Who am I kidding, there is absolutely nothing I can do either."

Roshi sat down on the ground and began to sulk like a small child.

"I long for the days when I was the absolute grand master of martial arts," he bemoaned, "At least I could have done something."

Seeing his master break down like that Krillin felt something snap inside. Part of it was pity, pity that his master felt so helpless in a time like this. And pity that he was there to see it. But the other thing was resolve. Maybe Tien was right. Maybe it was better to stop being part of the cheerleading squad and face your fate heads on. And if that meant dying, then maybe it was better to die fighting then to die watching.

So Krillin took off, chi blazing and flew towards the east. Maybe Faith could use some help with that controller that she was bringing.

x

* * *

x

As he got closer to Piccolo's fight with the androids Cell felt something he had never felt before in all the years of his existence. He felt giddy.

It was a good feeling. And why not? He was close now to becoming perfect. How many beings could say such a thing?

"I'm coming my brothers," Cell yelled excited, "I've waited for this day for a long time. Today I become perfect!"

Suddenly three persons flashed out of nowhere in front of Cell.

"Hey, watch it!" somebody yelled as Cell came to a dead stop only a few feet away.

It was a blonde girl.

One that felt strangely familiar.

But it was the large Saiyan behind her that had him more worried. He had seen him back in Leavenworth, and with Piccolo.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked as he floated backwards, creating some distance between himself and these three.

"I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," the girl said.

"Hush," Cell said dismissively, "leave the talking to the grownups. I'm talking to him."

"Oh, you just didn't...," the blonde said fuming.

"He just did," a shaggy haired teen said with thinly veiled amusement.

"Not now, the Saiyan said annoyed at the two teens, "You should not have come along, young lady."

"Yeah, I know that speech," the girl said as she rolled her eyes, "Don't hitch a ride along when I go off to face the evil monster, blah blah bity blah, I have an overprotective streak the size of Jupiter, are you finished now?"

The face of the Saiyan underwent a whole range of emotions before he finally settled on a facepalm.

"I just figured you could use some help," the girl said in jest.

"I just wanted to see the big scary monster," the shaggy haired teen shrugged.

"Yeah, that too," the girl echoed.

The Saiyan let out a big sigh.

"I see that I'm interrupting something," Cell said as he made a shooing motion, "Maybe I should leave you three to it? I have a more pressing engagement."

"I do not think so," the Saiyan said as he shook his head.

"I could probably outrun you," Cell said, "You're no stronger then Piccolo and I'm stronger then he is now."

"Try it," the Saiyan said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"So long, suckers!" Cell said, waving goodbye as he disappeared in the distance.

"Are you just going to let him escape?" Buffy said as she pointed after Cell.

"Of course not, young lady," Belmovekk said, then his face turned dead serious, "You should not have come along, and neither should he."

"Hey, she's my partner," Xander said with mock indignation, "wherever she goes, I should follow."

"Nice!" Buffy said as she held up a fist towards Xander, upon which Xander bro-fisted her.

Belmovekk briefly facepalmed himself again.

"The fat lady has not sung on this matter," he said, "We _will_ talk about this once this is over."

"Yeah yeah, yadda yadda," Buffy said as she waved her hand dismissively, "Are we finally going after that 'thing'?"

"I know I am," Belmovekk grinned, then he swiftly brought two fingers to his forehead.

"Oh no you do….," Buffy yelled but this time the Saiyan was faster as he blinked out of existence before she could grab him, "...I guess this time you do."

x

* * *

x

Cell thought he that had put quite some distance between him and the strange threesome when suddenly the Saiyan blinked into existence again in front of him.

"I can do this for, well, forever?" the Saiyan said confidently, "Can you?"

"You're really starting to get on my nerves," Cell said annoyed.

"I aim to please," the Saiyan shrugged, then he assumed a fighting stance, "Shall we?"

Cell looked briefly around to see if there were others.

"No annoying kids this time?" he asked.

"Just us two," the Saiyan said as he shook his head. Then the two fighters rushed each other.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Mayan was pacing along the edge nervously. It was funny how that old saying went. Be careful what you wish for. You may get it. She wanted somebody to step in and she wanted her father to do something. And now that she'd gotten both she was sick with worry. It didn't help that her crazy as a loon sister and Xander had also gone with him.

Suddenly she stopped and looked to the west.

"It has begun," Goku said, still crouched on the floor.

"What has?" Gohan asked.

"Belmovekk's now fighting Cell."

Looking one more time to the west she rejoined Goku and Gohan. She could now see that which she failed to see earlier. The Saiyan warrior was sick to his stomach with worry. His current role of sitting on the sideline seemed new to him and he didn't seem to be liking it one bit.

"I wish I had a crystal ball," Mayan said sullen.

"Why?" Goku asked.

"So I could see what was going on," she replied.

"You don't need a crystal ball for that," the Saiyan warrior said as he smiled a weak smile at her, "Just use your senses."

"You can do it that way?" Mayan asked surprised as Goku nodded in response.

"Can't you?" he asked equally surprised.

"I never had too," she said as she bit her lip, "I mean I never had to use it in battle before. As you may have noticed those androids are quite hard to detect using your senses."

"I guess so," Goku said as he let out a small chortle.

"I only learned the basics because Gohan insisted we should," Mayan said, then she looked at Gohan, "I'm sorry. I just….."

"I understand," Gohan smiled, "this time travel stuff must seem really weird to you."

"You have absolutely no idea," Mayan said as she shook her head, "Intellectually I know you're not him, and you're obviously much younger then he was. And neither is my family here the…., I…., I don't know, it's really weird."

"Empty your mind," Goku said.

"What?" Mayan asked.

"You wanted to know what's going on, I'll show you," Goku said, "now, empty your mind."

Mayan did as she was told.

"Now, you know where your father and Cell are. Close your eyes and go there. Extend your senses. Once you know where to look, concentrate. Try to feel them as they move about."

"It's hard," Mayan said, "I've never done this before."

"Wanna hear a secret," Goku smiled conspiratorially, "Neither have I."

Mayan tried to follow what was going on but it really was hard. It was like trying to watch a boxing match through an old World War II radar screen.

"This is really hard," Mayan said.

"Then let me show you," Goku's voice said.

x

* * *

x

An uppercut to his chin sent Piccolo backwards staggering, even though he had just performed a perfect defensive series. Damn that android and his impressive speed!

Piccolo got a grip on himself and lashed out with his arm, aiming for the android's head but the android ducked and instead punched Piccolo in the gut so hard it almost looked like it came out on the other side. It seriously knocked the wind out of the Namek. As he gasped for air Android #17 followed it up with an elbow to his neck, causing the mighty Namek to collapse and fall to the ground.

Almost immediately Piccolo got up on all fours and somersaulted away, only barely avoiding a spinning kick from the android. Putting some distance between him and the android Piccolo came to a halt and reached for his neck. Rubbing briefly to ease the pain, he then spit out some blood. Then he began to smirk again.

"Not bad," Piccolo smirked, "You're pretty fast, too bad you hit like a girl."

"What a stupid thing to say," Android #17 said somewhat taken aback, "Also not a smart thing to say to the strongest warrior of all time!"

"Strength, schmength," Piccolo shrugged dismissively, "it takes more then circuitry to be a warrior. It takes heart."

"I'll show you strength!" #17 yelled as he launched himself at Piccolo.

Who was off course waiting for just that.

He was about to strike #17 when the android changed course at the last possible moment and jumped into the air, causing Piccolo to strike empty air.

#17 somersaulted over Piccolo, landing behind the Namek, then he launched himself towards the Namek's exposed back. Even though he saw the android coming Piccolo didn't move out of the way and again received a painful blow to the back of his neck.

But because he saw the android coming he was able to deliver a kick to #17's chin that sent the android flying backward. A counter attack came to a very hard stop against Piccolo's chin, causing to double back. But Piccolo recovered and delivered a head butt that again sent the android flying backwards. This time the two fighters disengaged for a breather.

The pause lasted only briefly before both fighters charged each other again.

"He's pretty strong," Android #18 said impressed, "this fight is pretty even."

x

* * *

x

"Did you see?" Goku said as he opened his eyes again.

"Wow," Mayan said impressed, "that was… intense?"

Shaking her head Mayan tried get her mind out of the intense concentration she had been.

"I could only follow Piccolo," Mayan said.

"That is to be expected when you're dealing with androids," Goku said, then he closed his eyes, "Now let's try your father and Cell."

x

* * *

x

This was bad.

This was extremely bad.

Even when he had fought the Majin he never had to exert himself like this, Belmovekk thought. Cell was really going all out for broke. And like the Majin he had that extra appendage that you just had to keep an eye for, that is, if you didn't wanted to be sucked dry.

Now the good news was that unlike his battle with the Majin this time he only had to buy time, not actually defeat it.

The bad news was that Cell seemed to realize this and was going all for broke trying to beat him.

Even worse, Cell seemed to be winning.

"YOU!"

SMACK!

A spinning kick came to a very hard and sudden stop against Belmovekk's face, causing him to spin uncontrollably in the air.

"WILL!"

THUD!

A fist to his stomach stopped Belmovekk's spin and caused him to buckle up.

"NOT!"

WHACK!

An open handed smack to his head sent Belmovekk on a free fall towards the Pacific below.

"STOP"

CRACK!

Using his tail as a whip Cell lashed out and halted his fall by sending him upwards again.

"ME!"

DOOM!

A fireball of epic death was fired at him and like the pilot of that B-52 in Dr. Strangelove, only this time in reverse, Belmovekk rode the fireball into the upper atmosphere, the only thing missing was a cowboy hat to wave about.

For what seemed like forever Belmovekk rode the damn thing, only to then manage to get off. Only to be greeted by Cell again.

"FROM"

WHACK!"

A downward kick sent him back towards the lower atmosphere again, back towards the Pacific Ocean.

"BECOMING!"

KICK!

Coming down hard with great vengeance Cell drove his heel hard into Belmovekk's back. Greatly accelerating his free fall.

And then his free fall suddenly stopped.

"PERFECT!" Cell yelled as he held up Belmovekk's battered body. Then he brought up the needle like spike on his tail and aimed it at Belmovekk.

"Eenie, meenie, minie, moe," Cell said as his tail tapped various places on Belmovekk's body where he could impale the Saiyan, "It's really a shame, Saiyan, that I'm strapped for time. You'd make an excellent addition to the energy I already took."

"You know what they say," Belmovekk said as he coughed up some blood, "Life can be a bitch."

"True," Cell echoed, then the needle tip of his tail aimed itself at Belmovekk's heart, "I guess I just have to kill you. I could leave you to snack on later but I guess you'd just use that annoying teleport ability to leap ahead and delay me further."

The spike tapped Belmovekk's chest gently a few times.

"I am curious though, Saiyan," Cell mused, "I do not know you. Who are you? No need for the full bio, just your name."

"Have we not been introduced?" Belmovekk chuckled softly, "My, how rude of me. I am Belmovekk, son of Rabar and disciple of the God Aldur. And he sent me here to stop you."

The revelation took Cell by surprise.

"Why?" he asked mystified, "What did I do? I don't even know this Aldur."

Belmovekk chuckled again.

"Maybe it is not about what you did to him, maybe it is what you will do," he said.

"True," Cell agreed, "I might have some plans that whoever he is might not like, "and now, my Saiyan friend, it's time to die."

"I do not think so," Belmovekk said shaking his head.

"What makes you think so?" Cell asked.

"Say hello to mister thunderstorm," Belmovekk said as his eyes looked up. Cell did too and saw a massive black thunderstorm hanging over his head.

And then the discharge happened.

x

* * *

x

"Father!" Mayan exclaimed as she opened her eyes, "He's in danger!"

"Why do you think I was against it in the first place?" Goku said. The Saiyan didn't seem pleased though at being right. He looked damn right uncomfortable.

"You've got to do something," she yelled as she got up.

"Don't you think I don't want too?" Goku said as he suddenly yelled at her, then he pointed at the Room of Spirit and Time behind him, "Don't you think I would rather be out there then wait for Vegeta and Trunks to come out? There's nothing I can do. I have to remain here. Somebody has to bring them there once they get out."

"Then I'll go," Mayan said and made for the edge of the Lookout.

"And do what?" Goku asked, "Can you go Super Saiyan?"

"No," Mayan said back, "But I can go Ozaru. I know how to make an artificial moon and how to have some form of control."

"It won't be enough," Goku said shaking his head, "You'll only get in your father's way. I've come to know him. When it comes to his children, real and adopted, he doesn't think straight. He knows that he has to buy time, he knows the instant transmission, he can get out. With you there he might stay longer then he should."

x

* * *

x

A kick from Android #17 aimed at Piccolo's head got blocked by the Namek who immediately counter attacked with his knee, only to see it blocked in return. A flurry of punches and counter punches followed next.

As the fight between the two dragged on androids #16 and #18 continued to watch as well. #18 in particular was mesmerized by the fight, hanging on to every move. Android #16 was also taken by the fight. But from time to time he looked elsewhere.

To the northwest.

Like something important was happening there also.

x

* * *

x

Cell was getting more then fed up with this disciple of Aldur.

In fact, he was now going to make it his personal business to pay this Aldur a visit once he had achieved his perfect form. Whoever the hell this pretentious twat was, he had now meddled in his affairs _and_ used a very annoying Saiyan to boot.

That lightning strike had hurt!

He wasn't quite sure how the Saiyan had managed to manipulate the weather, and frankly, neither did he care. All he wanted to do now was crush the bastard and do it in a very painful way.

Unfortunately for Cell the Saiyan seemed to have gotten in a second wind, somehow having dug in deep to find some reserves. It mattered not, Cell had more. And he was going to end it now, before this bastard succeeded in delaying him even more.

As the two fighters disengaged to catch a breather Cell decided to gather in some extra energy and finish this once and for using a classic.

"You have annoyed me for the last time, Saiyan," he said, not even giving the prick the satisfaction of addressing him by his name, then he extended one arm in front of him.

"KA!"

To his credit the Saiyan didn't seem to be surprised as Cell continued the sequence.

"ME!" Cell yelled as he brought both arms in front of him.

He even began to prepare for it using a move of his own, using a nail to make a cut in his hand, until a bloody gash appeared.

"HA!" Cell yelled as he brought both hands to his side and cupped them together.

The Saiyan slashed his other hand palm as well and let both bleeding hands fall to his side.

"ME!" Cell yelled as blue energy began to form and swirl between his hands.

Meanwhile the blood in the Saiyan's hands began to glow until it formed two ruby red spheres of energy that rapidly grew in intensity. Even the Saiyan's eyes began to glow red.

As both fighters began to gather in obscene amounts of energy the weather around grew worse and worse. With storm winds starting to blow and further, only this time uncontrolled lightning bolts discharging all over the place.

"Prepare to meet your maker, Saiyan!" Cell yelled to make himself heard above the weather, "Go back to Aldur and tell him you failed."

Then Cell threw his hands forward and unleashed one of the deadliest attacks in history.

"HA!" Cell yelled as a beam of blue death sped towards Belmovekk.

In response the Saiyan threw his hands also forward and combined red spheres of energy into one.

"FIRE AND BLOOD!" the Saiyan yelled and his ruby red beam sped forward as well.

x

* * *

x

"NO!" Goku yelled as he opened his eyes on the Lookout, "Belmovekk, you idiot!"

As Mayan and Gohan looked at him in shock Goku tried to make sense of what he had just seen. What was that idiot Belmovekk up to? He was supposed to only delay Cell, not engage him in a battle of attrition! He was going to get himself killed.

Looking briefly over his shoulder towards the still closed door of the Room of Spirit and Time, Goku's mind raced as he tried to come up with something, anything that would convince Mayan from not trying to save her father from almost certain death.

x

* * *

x

As the two beams met they created a large sphere of energy, at the center of which was the event horizon. Deadly energies from both attacks competed against each other to see which was the strongest. Lightning discharges erupted around the sphere, making loud noises as excess energy from the two attacks broke free from the sphere and tried to run to ground.

At the other end, pouring deadly ruby red energy into his attack Belmovekk grunted through gritted teeth.

"Oh, not that easy, Cell," Belmovekk said as he dug a little deeper to find some more power. He wasn't going to give in that easily. Not when he was engaged in the fight of his life and practically heard the voices of all his ancestors sing in exultation. Oh, he had it bad! A very bad case of Saiyan battle lust.

Which was funny, because he was never supposed to win this fight. Only delay Cell long enough for Piccolo to destroy one of the androids or for Vegeta and Trunks to come out of the Room of Spirit and Time..

But he was also Saiyan and once he had shaken off his fear, the idea that he was going to die and fail, he actually quite enjoyed being in this fight. Not going for a win meant employing a wholly different strategy and it became almost addictive to see how long he could stretch this fight.

Had he not been on the grip of an emotional rollercoaster of fear and now elation, followed by unhealthy amounts of Saiyan battle lust Belmovekk might have realized that something was wrong.

If Cell was so much stronger then he was, and pressed for time, why was he still holding his own in the ultimate battle of attrition?

x

* * *

x

"You take me to him right now!" Mayan yelled as Goku tried to allay her worries.

Damn himself for teaching her how to follow that fight using her senses!

And damn her for seeing as well what Belmovekk seemed to fail noticing.

Why was he still holding his own in the ultimate battle of attrition?

x

* * *

x

"What in blazes name is that?" General Hammond said as he and O'Neill stared at what was rapidly becoming a massive atmospheric disturbance. It was like they were staring at the makings of a god damn hurricane west of Midway. Which wasn't that strange in itself. But not one that had formed out of nowhere in minutes.

"I don't know, sir," Major Carter said as she tried to make sense of the satellite imagery.

"Is it connected to the fight that we were told about?" Daniel asked.

A large flash southwest of Hawaii, looking very much like a massive electrical discharge answered that.

"Fight's still on down there," O'Neill said stoically.

"I think I can see colors," Hammond said as he looked closely at the imagery, then at Carter, "Is that red?"

x

* * *

x

On a deserted island to the southwest of Hawaii the fight between Piccolo and Android #17 showed no sign of coming to an end. In fact they were rapidly starting to run out of yet another island to fight on.

As #18 watched on Android #17 came down crashing right in front of her, creating a large crater in the process. No sooner had he done so as Piccolo came down after him, only he came down with his elbow first, intent of driving it full force into Android #17's back.

Unfortunately for Piccolo Android #17 managed to roll aside just at the last moment, lashing out with his feet towards the Namek.

And so it went on, for what seemed like forever.

All this time Android #18 had watched on engrossed. The fight was amazing, to bad it couldn't go on forever. For where her sibling android had an infinite energy reactor and could fight on indefinitely Piccolo would soon run out of steam.

It really was a shame that Piccolo was going to die, unless he gave in and told them where they could find Goku. Which he probably wouldn't. Which meant that he was going to die. And that ultimately this fight, this beautiful fight, this magnificent fight, that it was all for nothing.

She was about to make a remark to it to #16 when she noticed he wasn't even looking at the fight any more. Instead he looked intently somewhere towards the north west.

"Is something wrong?" she asked slightly curious, as there were no small animals or other trivial things that usually took his interest, "Or are have you grown bored with this fight."

The big android didn't immediately reply. Instead he continued to stare for 18.348 seconds before he finally looked at her and replied.

"I think a storm is coming."

x

* * *

x

Belmovekk could almost hear the words, the words that the choir of his ancestors were singing from his blood. He'd better watch out and take notice before he did something stupid."

"You think?" a voice suddenly said.

A voice that seemingly cut through all the noise of the energy attacks and blasting winds like a high gain Marshall amp.

A voice laden with harmonic overtones.

"You're losing sight here, Saiyan," Amūn said as he floated into Belmovekk's field of vision.

"Go away," Belmovekk grunted annoyed, "I have no time for your fun and games."

"You're not here to enjoy yourself," Amūn said frowning, "Finish this, use your fancy teleport trick to catch a breather and if Piccolo's not finished yet, repeat and rinse."

"I know what I'm doing," Belmovekk grunted, "I have him exactly where I want him."

Amūn shook his head and put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, really!" he said, his voice going up an octave, "Has it ever occurred to you why you….."

Suddenly a loud shockwave shuddered through the event horizon, then the part of the sphere that Belmovekk could see changed color from red to blue. And then the whole sphere advanced rapidly towards Belmovekk.

"Crap," Amūn said horrified, then he looked at Belmovekk, "Now might be a good time to do your teleport trick, Saiyan."

"I think you're right Belmovekk said as he brought two fingers to his forehead.

But before they could touch taloned hands and scaled arms wrapped themselves around the Saiyan.

"Oh no you don't," Cell's voice whispered in his ears.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Goku now had to physically restrain Mayan from leaving.

"LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!" Mayan yelled as she struggled in Goku's arms.

"There's no way I'm going to let yourself get killed," Goku said as he called upon some more strength to restrain her. For a girl who couldn't go Super Saiyan she was stronger then he had thought.

"Fuck you asshole!" Mayan grunted as she struggled some more, "Let me go!"

"I have to," Goku said, hating himself for what he had to do, "Belmovekk would never forgive me if I let anything happen to his daughter, to you."

"Instead you're going to let him be killed!" Mayan grunted, as she tried another way to twist herself free from Goku's grasp.

"He hasn't died before," Goku stated as he foiled her attempt, "he could be revived using the Dragonballs."

"But dad," Gohan stated, horrified that the two were fighting, "those are gone when Piccolo fused with Kami."

"Then I get the ones from Namek!" Goku said as he snapped out at his own son, immediately regretting what he had said, "I'm sorry, Gohan, it's just…"

Using Goku's momentary distraction Mayan focused inwardly for a moment, then she held up a hand palm and a small light blue energy sphere appeared.

"Goku, you bastard," she hissed slowly, "let me go, or I swear, I will launch this powerball into the air and transform into Ozaru right here."

x

* * *

x

They say that when you're about to die your whole life flashes before. Well, he should be in for quite a movie marathon.

As Cell managed to grab him in an iron vice the creature dove right down towards the Pacific. Only to submerse him into that ocean.

That thing was going old school on him. It was trying to drown him!

Which was quite ironic. Of all the ways that he had figured that he would die, drowning was at the bottom of the list.

"I've had it with you and your antics, Saiyan," Cell's voice said, even audible in the water, "So I'm going to make sure you _never_ get in my way again!"

x

* * *

x

"You're bluffing," Goku said horrified as he recognized the powerball floating above her hand. Vegeta had used the same trick on him, now a lifetime ago and had come within an inch of killing him because of it.

"Oh yeah?" Mayan said, then she grinned, "Watch this."

Then the powerball launched itself into the skies.

x

* * *

x

People were wrong, Belmovekk thought. There was no flashback of his life appearing before his eyes. There was also no long white tunnel.

Only the slate grey waters of the Pacific.

"Die, you bastard!" Cell's voice called out from above the surface.

He was still managing to hold his breath. But not for long.

Soon the moment would come that he could no longer hold his breath and start gasping for air. And start inhaling water into his lungs.

Before him images suddenly flashed of his mirror image, clad in golden armor. Funnily enough he also seemed to be drowning.

 _Do something,_ Amūn's now voiceless voice said in his mind, _I don't wanna die! Not again!_

x

* * *

x

Higher and higher Mayan's powerball went into the upper atmosphere, much to Goku's horror. Higher and higher it went, until it disappeared from view. For a moment nothing happened.

And then a light began to shine.

x

* * *

x

"I don't understand it, sir," Major Carter said as she tried to make sense of the data on her screen, "the disturbance seems to be dying down again. It makes no sense whatsoever."

"It does if one of them has lost, major," Hammond as he peered over her shoulder at the screen.

"Yeah, but the million dollars question now becomes: who lost?" O'Neill said.

Before anyone could reply a telephone rang in the background and tech sergeant Walters picked it up.

"Control room," he said as he listened, then his eyes grew big, "WHAT? Are you sure?"

"Is something wrong, son?" Hammond said as he looked over his shoulder at the tech sergeant.

"There's a full moon shining over the base, sir," Walters said as he put down the phone.

"So?" O'Neill asked, "Full moon happens once a month."

"Not when the moon's on the other side of the planet, sir."

x

* * *

x

There comes a time when the body starts overruling the mind. That's when it starts doing what it naturally does and gasp for air. Even when its underwater. And that's usually when the drowning starts as the lungs don't fill themselves with life giving air but with deadly water instead.

As that moment came to pass for Belmovekk he rapidly felt his consciousness slipping. And not just his own, as before his eyes Amūn started to fade as well.

Well, every cloud has its silver lining!

And then, just as he was about to pass out he saw something rise from the deep towards him.

A woman.

Not just any woman.

As she came closer a smile appeared on Belmovekk's lips.

Inari, his long lost wife.

 _Come to me, my love._

And then the world faded to black.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout, much to Goku's horror Mayan's face began to change, as her teeth began to elongate and her mouth and nose began to change.

"Told you I would do it," she snarled.

"Yes, you did," Goku said, then he briefly closed his eyes, "You truly are your father's daughter. And I'm truly sorry."

"What?" Mayan said somewhat taken aback.

And then Goku hit her with his elbow right against the side of her head.

Falling limp in his arms, Goku put her down. Now that she was unconscious the transformation stopped. Grabbing a blanket he threw it over her head. The transformation into Ozaru was caused by full moonlight hitting the eyes causing a gland in the tail to become active. With her now unconscious and no longer receiving visual stimulation the transformation not only stopped, but gradually began to reverse.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this," Goku said as he reached round her back and took the tail by its base, "Maybe you can get it back later using a senzu."

Next thing Goku squeezed hard and crushed the tail, then he ripped it off and cauterized the wound.

"Keep an eye on her," he said to Gohan, "Don't let her do anything stupid."

"Dad, what are you going to do?" Gohan asked.

"What she wanted me to do, son," Goku said as he brought two fingers to his forehead and concentrated, "What she wanted me to do. Pray that I'm not too late."

x

* * *

x

The Saiyan was no longer trashing about in his grip.

Finally! No more of this meddlesome pest! Any moment and he could finally go towards the androids.

The question Cell now faced was to let go now, and run the risk that the Saiyan might survive. He probably wasn't going to intervene for a while but who knows how much trouble he might cause later. It was probably better to make sure that brain dead would become permanent dead.

"Just a little while longer, my obnoxious Saiyan friend," Cell said triumphantly, "And then… perfection!"

SMACK!

A foot suddenly came to a very hard stop against Cell's face, causing him to let go of the Saiyan and land at least a hundred feet away in the water.

"Goku?" Cell said as he re-emerged from the water.

But there was no Goku to be found.

Instead he looked at a very irate looking blonde girl.

"Get away from him, you bitch!"

x

* * *

x

What the hell is she doing?

He had almost used his instant transmission when Goku noticed that it was Buffy who had stepped in instead. She and Xander must have caught up with Belmovekk and Cell. This changed the whole equation. Cell couldn't care less about them and he doubted that if they wanted to save Belmovekk Cell would bother much. Even though the fight with Belmovekk had been quite vicious.

Okay, you made your point girl, you've distracted him while Xander picks up Belmovekk from the water. Now go away and leave. Leave it be.

"PICCOLO!"

Goku turned his head around and only barely caught Gohan making for the edge of the Lookout.

"What are you doing, Gohan?" Goku said angry as Gohan squirmed in his arms.

"PICCOLO!" Gohan yelled, "Let me go, dad! Piccolo's in trouble.

As he shifted his attention to Piccolo's fight Goku couldn't help but wish that his wife was here. If anyone could put the fear of God into unruly children it was her.

x

* * *

x

"I know you," Cell said as he looked at the blonde girl.

"Duh," she snorted, "I think I just introduced myself five minutes ago."

"That's not it," Cell said as he shook his head, then he began to smile, "You're the Slayer, aren't you?

"Were you even listening five minutes ago?" she said incredulously, "Of course I'm the Slayer. The original, accept no substitute."

Cell didn't immediately respond, instead he leaned forward.

"I have some of your DNA inside me," he smirked at her.

"No way!" the girl said aghast, to which Cell replied by nodding.

"Yes way," Cell smirked, then he folded his arms across his chest, "You should feel honored to be part of the perfect organism. Be part of perfection."

"All I hear is perfect posturing," the girl bit back, "and there's no way you're coming to the family barbecue!"

"Ha ha ha," Cell roared with laughter, "Suppose I were to come, what are you going to do about it?"

The girl assumed a fighting stance.

"I think I'll try copious amounts of violence," she said defiantly. And then she charged him.

x

* * *

x

This wasn't going well, Piccolo thought as another elbow connected painfully with his face. For quite some time Piccolo had managed to keep up with Android #17, but then he slipped up and paid the price for it as Android #17 gave him the mother of all of punishment beatings.

Thankfully he had managed to recover, but it didn't bode well. Not only had the beating taken some of his wind out of him, he was nearing the end of what remained of his stamina. As he swiped android's #17's leg from underneath him Piccolo figured he'd better come up with a way to end this fast or Android #17 was going to end it for him.

x

* * *

x

The son of a bitch must be made from neutronium, Xander thought as he managed to fish Belmovekk's body out of the water. The Saiyan felt like he weighed like a ton of bricks. A ton bricks which was also deader then a Dodo to Xander, who almost gave up and despaired, but then he pulled himself together. Frantically Xander tried to remember his first aid lessons as he gave the Saiyan CPR to the best of his abilities. Thinking he had managed to get the water out of his lungs Xander alternated between blowing air into his lungs and pumping his chest.

Using his chi Xander had created a small floating platform onto which he had pulled the drowned Saiyan. Pumping frantically Xander tried to get the Saiyan to breathe.

"Breathe, dammit!" Xander said as he pumped the Saiyan's chest ten times, then he blew more air into his lungs, again resuming pumping the Saiyan's chest.

But it was to no avail.

Sensing that he was getting nowhere, Xander decided it was time for a different approach. He had seen enough E.R. to know that once a patient's heart had given up they brought in the heavy artillery of electro shock. And while he may lack a electro shock crash cart, he still had plenty of chi left.

"Please know, big guy, this is going to hurt you a lot more then it will me," Xander said as he held his hands over the Saiyan's chest, "Actually, it's going to be all hurt for you."

ZAP!

Electricity arced from Xander's hands into Belmovekk's chest and the Saiyan's body trashed around wildly, causing Xander to stop and grab hold of Belmovekk's body before he fell off the chi platform. Now he understood why on E.R. the doctors tied down the patient _before_ they had their fun with electricity. Once he stopped zapping Belmovekk's body the thrashing about stopped.

"Great, that was another great Xander Harris classic!" Xander said angry at himself, "How can I fix this me…."

Before he could finish his sentence something flashed by and crashed into the Pacific ocean in front of him, disappearing into the slate grey waves.

Next thing something came down and hovered in front of him. Something tall, green and with dark mottling.

"You're not going to undo what I tried so hard to finish," Cell's voice said, sounding not so very amused. To illustrate his point the spike on Cell's tail hovered in front of Xander's face.

"Yeah well, you know what they say," Xander shrugged.

"Pray tell," Cell said as the spike inched a little closer.

"Shit happens?" Xander said as he smiled weakly.

"Very droll," Cell said not so very amused, "Prepare to d…."

WOOSH!

Suddenly a geyser of water and steam erupted from the waves between Cell and Xander, followed by white flames of chi as a certain Buffy Summers slowly emerged from the ocean.

"Doesn't anybody stay dead any more?" Cell said as he rolled his eyes in frustration.

As she finally hung in the air Buffy examined her clothes.

"Bastard!" Buffy said as she touched her jacket and trousers, "Do you have any idea how water completely ruins suede?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, how rude of me," Cell said ruefully, "where are my manners. Now where were we, oh, that's right, I was going to _murder_ you!"

Lashing out with his tail the Cell/Buffy fight continued. But as they duked it out even Xander could see that Buffy was so grossly outgunned it wasn't even funny any more. She was going to need help. Hell they all could.

Taking one more look at Belmovekk Xander was horrified at the Sophie's choice he currently faced. Save one, lose the other.

"I hate that movie," he said, then he placed both hands on Belmovekk's chest and fired off one more electrical discharge. Again, Belmovekk's body thrashed about and then it stopped again. This was beyond Xander's meager skills.

"I wish I could do more for you, Big Guy," Xander said, then he briefly tipped his head, "I'm sorry, but I believe this is what you would have wanted anyway. It's all about being there for her, isn't it?"

Then Xander launched himself into the air and joined Buffy's side. As they had always trained they would.

x

* * *

x

"Something seems to be happening again, sir," an USAF operator called out in the SGC control room. General Hammond and the others were just getting to grips with the idea that somehow the planet had an artificial moon hanging stationary somewhere over Colorado.

"What, son?" Hammond asked.

"The disturbance over the Central Pacific, it seems to be growing again," the operator said as he pointed towards the screen.

"They're at it again?" Major Carter said as she ran back to her own screen to look at the incoming data.

'You know," O'Neill said, "This would be so much easier if we just gave them all cell phones."

x

* * *

x

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Yelling frantically Buffy fired of chi blasts at Cell like she was a human machine gun. Meanwhile Xander was gathering in energy as he was forming a huge sphere of doom over his hand. Gathering in all his energy, all his feelings, all his rage, all his frustration, all his hatred.

"For Belmovekk!" Xander yelled as he threw the thing at Cell, "Catch!"

And catch Cell did.

Well, deflect was more like it as Cell swatted the thing aside and sent it careering into the distance. Where it blew up harmlessly.

DOOM!

A light brighter then a thousand suns shone. Then a mushroom of pure deadly energy rose into the air. But while that was happening Xander was already using a different attack

"Destructo Disc!"

Dropping Destructo Discs left and right like a B-52 bomber dropping bombs on Hanoi Xander threw the extremely potent and razor sharp attacks at Cell.

But aside from a few nicks and cuts Cell managed to dodge them all and soon Xander was doing his utmost to outrun a monster Destructo Disc that Cell sent after him.

Meanwhile Buffy had closed the distance and thrown herself knee first into Cell's back. Then she leapt away just in time to avoid getting impaled by Cell's tail. It was enough for the monster Destructo Disc to stop giving chase to Xander, allowing him to evade the attack as it disappeared into the ocean.

Next thing Xander sped back and together the two of them double teamed against Cell.

This went on for a while, then Cell began to yell and stretched out his arms and legs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As he yelled a powerful chi blast erupted from Cell and sped like a shockwave into all directions. As it hit both Buffy and Xander it seriously knocked the wind out of them.

The blastwave hit Buffy harder then it had hit Xander though as she fell unconscious into the Pacific Ocean again. Xander on the other hand was down, but not yet out.

"Buffy!" Xander yelled, then he tried to dive after her.

Only to find Cell in his way.

And then Xander was firmly in Cell's grip as the monster held him by his neck in an iron voice.

"I don't know who you are," Cell said, sounding very much at edge, "Nor do I care. All you have to know is that I will have you for breakfast!"

"I've lived in and survived Sunnydale," Xander spat defiantly, "Do your worst!"

"Hmm, righteous anger," Cell smirked as he aimed his tail, "Tastes even better then fear!"

"I'll give you the mother of all indigestions!" Xander said.

"I'd like to see you try," Cell smirked, then his tail lashed out.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Goku had just managed to calm down Gohan when he noticed that Mayan was missing again. Extending his senses he noticed that the girl had surreptitiously managed to make her exit and was now in flight towards the Pacific.

Sighing deeply Goku brought two fingers to his forehead.

x

* * *

x

Xander had closed his eyes and braced himself for the shock of impact.

Only it didn't come.

Okay, something was wrong here. Or maybe it was a case of something being right.

For the wrong reasons.

Since the universe so far had failed to do Xander Harris any favors, not without exacting a huge toll for that matter, Xander opened his eyes.

Only to see Buffy between him and the obnoxious green one.

She had tried coming in with a kick to Cell's face. Instead she now found her leg impaled on Cell's tail spike.

"BUFFY!" Xander yelled horrified, "Get out of here!"

"I can't!" Buffy said back equally horrified, "I can't move myself!"

"Hmm," Cell said grinning, "Guess what, this is even better. All that energy. All that…. Wow, welcome to perfection, baby."

"No!" Xander said as he tried to wrestle free without much success.

In fact his efforts to break free had quite the opposite effect as Cell tightened his grip on Xander's neck.

"Hush," Cell said in what had to pass for a soothing voice, "Your turn will come and you'll be together again soon."

In fact Cell's grip on Xander's throat was that strong that it became increasingly hard to breathe. Then colors flashed in front of his eyes and the world turned to black.

x

x

As he opened his eyes Xander noticed he was somewhere completely else. Standing in the halls of Sunnydale Community Hospital Xander found himself standing in a long corridor.

It wasn't empty, as people walked passed by.

But it was like he wasn't really there either.

Xander began to walk through the corridor. They had spent quite some time in this place. At first because they got beaten up a lot fighting the forces of Darkness. And later because of the many injuries that came with high intensity training. He had been here so often the doctors and nurses knew him on a first name basis and the hospital administration gave him a discount.

Then he came upon a door that was open.

Stepping inside Xander came into a delivery room. Inside the room a woman was sitting in the stirrups with her legs wide, a doctor and nurse attending.

"Push," the doctor said encouragingly, "keep pushing.

"NNNNNGGNNNN!"

The woman groaned and then groaned some more as she pushed.

"Keep pushing," the doctor said, "I see the baby's head coming, you're doing great!"

Fascinated Xander watched over the doctor's shoulder as the woman gave birth. Which was way more messy and bloody then he had thought.

Finally the birth was over and the woman passed out from exhaustion. The doctor then cut the umbilical cord and together with the nurse finished off the aftercare. The nurse then took the child over and began to wash the goo and gunk off of it.

The nurse was busy drying the child off with a towel the nurse then when suddenly somebody else came into the room. And Xander recognized that man instantly.

"You have a healthy baby son, Mr. Harris," the nurse said as she handed Tony Harris the baby.

Taking over the child, Tony Harris, the man Xander hated most of all the people in this world, looked at the child as the nurse left him alone.

"Suppose I have to say something to ya," Tony said, looking remarkably unenthusiastic, "well, here's something my father told me. Even though you'll probably feel like you were meant to be something, you'll never amount to anything in this life. Even though you feel like you should be doing something, you'll only be a sack of shit living off my pay check. Even though you want to be something, you're best off being nothing. And be it somewhere else then in my home. The sooner you realize this, the better off the both of us will be."

Then it hit upon Xander, he was looking at his own birth.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Xander called out, unheard off by anyone in the room, "I'm at my own birth? And Tony was _already_ a dick to me?"

The nurse came back and Tony handed her the baby. Then he did something that surprised Xander. Half expecting him to do a 180 degree turnabout and leave the room, Tony instead joined his wife's side and showed a loving and caring side to him that Xander had never seen. And somehow it freaked out Xander more then getting beaten the shit out of him by his dad.

Deciding that anything was better then watch this unholy freak show Xander left the room to follow the nurse. But as soon as he stepped out of the delivery room he found the corridor to be empty.

And dark, because the lights were out.

"Okay, no longer funny," Xander said out loud, "I get it now, I'm dying and this is supposed to be my life flashing by, right? Not how I would've expected it, but hey, however it goes, right?"

There was no immediate answer.

Then a light was switched on at the furthest end of the corridor and Xander could see somebody stand there.

"Hello," Xander yelled, waving his hand about, "Do I know you?"

The somebody didn't respond.

"Great," Xander muttered, "mysterious strangers. I hate mysterious strangers."

x

* * *

x

"This is sweet," Cell said with a big smile as he began to suck Buffy's life essence through his tail.

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

He was five years old.

Alex had his birthday today and his mommy had made him a birthday cake. He knew she had done this because his mommy had said so.

He was in kindergarten and his mother had given him his birthday cake to share with the other kids. So he went around the playground offering everybody a piece.

It was when he came upon Larry that things went pearshaped.

Larry was a big kid, one who was a little more mature then the other kids. Mature in the sense that he was big, knew that he was big and that because he was big he could do stuff that the other kids couldn't.

Like that they couldn't defend themselves against him.

So when Alex came up to Larry, Larry did what he usually did.

He knocked Alex's little tray with the cake out of his hands, letting it all fall on the ground.

Then little Alex did something Larry didn't expect. He didn't cry.

"Why did you do that?" he asked the kindergarten bully.

"Because I can?" Larry replied, not sure why Alex wasn't crying.

"My mommy made that," Alex protested, "She baked it for me."

"Uh huh," Larry said shaking his head, "She bought in the store."

"No, she didn't!" little Alex said defensively, "She made it for me."

"Uh huh," Larry said again shaking his head, "She got it from Walmart. My mommy buys me the same cake."

"No," little Alex said as his eyes got a little bigger, "she made it, for me. Cause my mommy loves me!"

And that's when Larry knew which buttons to push with Alex. To make a long story short, despite Alex's best efforts Larry got the better of him and made him lick a dog turd that lay outside the playground.

As Xander stood by and watched his younger self get humiliated he couldn't help but shake his head in pity.

"And the saddest part was that he was right," Xander sighed as he turned away not to see the final humiliation, "Why bother baking a cake when you can get one at Walmart, right Mom?"

There was no answer to his bitter remark.

Instead Xander heard some leaves rushing in the wind and from the corner of his eye he saw something move. But when he looked around it was gone.

"Alright," he said as he looked upwards, "I still have some dying to do. Next scene, please!"

x

* * *

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, look at what I got," little Alex said excited as he came to his father's side in the living room. Tony Harris was sitting in his favorite chair watching TV, really killing time until Jessica was finished preparing dinner.

"Not now, son," Tony Harris said as he took a swig from his can of cheap beer.

"But daddy," little Alex said excitedly, "I have something to show you."

"Kid, piss off," Tony said irritated, "Daddy's had a very bad day at work. He's in no mood to hear your kid shenanigans."

"Daddy, look at my drawing," little Alex said, "please look at my dra…"

SMACK!

Casually Tony Harris reached out and slapped little Alex in his face. As the kid ran crying to the kitchen Tony continued watching television.

Meanwhile Xander walked up to Tony Harris's chair and picked up little Alex's drawing that had fallen to the ground. It was a drawing of his father, with above it spelled in big letters DADDY.

Looking at the picture for a while, Xander then looked at Tony Harris, the man he now refused to call his father.

"Well, that was one thing I quickly learned never to draw again," Xander said as he crumbled the drawing and threw it away, "Next scene please!"

There was no reply.

There never was.

Or was there?

Hearing a faint whispering sound Xander turned his head around.

Just in time to see the back of somebody walk out of view outside the front window.

x

* * *

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

By now Xander had gotten used to getting beaten up.

It came part of the package of being 'that crazy kid' in school. By now it didn't even bother him anymore. If there was one thing he had learned it was that there was no shame in pain.

There was however pain in getting beaten up in front of the most beautiful girl in school.

Mary Ann Cramer.

When she walked by in the hall Xander would feel his heart pound in his chest, and this sinking feeling in his stomach that he hoped wouldn't reach his underpants. The kind of girl that caused his grades to plummet if she were in his class.

For weeks Xander had dreamed of asking her out on a date. He had gone through every possible scenario in his head, which usually saw her saying yes, after which they would live happily ever after.

She was the kind of girl that he dreamt about.

And unfortunately also the girl that made him ignore the warnings of his friends Jesse and Willow.

Because if he did he might have learned that Mary Ann already had a boyfriend.

One who didn't take kindly to others harassing his girlfriend.

So, as he lay there on the ground getting the living snot kicked out of him it wasn't the beatings that really hurt. It was Mary Ann Cramer cheering her boyfriend on to hurt him some more.

As the young teen's heart broke, older Xander watched on, figuring for the life why he ever was in love with Mary Ann in the first place. She wasn't even that hot looking. At least not any more.

Feeling disgusted with the whole scene in front of him Xander turned around. Only to again see something slip away at the edge of his view.

"Who are you?" he called out.

Only a soft inaudible whisper came as a reply.

"Fine," Xander muttered annoyed, "Have it your way. Next scene."

x

* * *

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

"Why?" Jessica cried in terror, "Was it because I overcooked the roast?"

Xander had just come home from school when he saw his mother get beaten up by his father. Wasting no time Xander dropped his schoolbooks and jumped between his parents.

"Dad, no!" Xander yelled as he tried to shield his mother, "You can't do thi…."

WHACK!

Before he knew it his father had decked him and decked him hard. Clutching his left eye he looked up to his father defiantly.

"Keep out of it, you worthless sack of shit," Tony yelled at him. And even lying at the floor Xander could smell the alcohol on his father's breath.

"Fuck you!" Xander shouted defiantly.

This was however not the smartest thing to say with his father in his current state.

"Are you giving me lip, boy?" Tony Harris said, speaking in his 'calm before the storm' voice. The one where you knew you had 5 seconds to leave the house and make yourself scarce for a very long time.

"You're getting way too lippy lately," Tony Harris as he unbuckled his belt and pulled it out his trousers, "It's time to teach you some respect again."

Then Tony proceeded to really lay it into poor Xander.

As he did older Xander watched on with growing anger. He remembered this day very well. Not only because he was in a hospital for two weeks afterwards. But also because Jessica actually lied to the police to save Tony's worthless ass. Hell, she was more concerned with protecting Tony then actually care for her injured son.

As his anger grew Xander heard the whispering sound again and again saw something move out from the corner of his eyes.

"Not funny," Xander growled softly, "Next clip please."

x

* * *

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

Buffy, Xander and Jesse were moving through the sewers underneath Sunnydale, with Jesse in the leads when they enter a larger chamber.

"I don't think this is the way out!" Buffy said as she looked around herself.

"We can't fight our way back through those things," Xander said, alluding to the various vampires that were hot on their heels, "What do we do?"

"I got an idea," Jesse said, then to their shock he vamped out, "You can die!"

"Jesse, man. I'm sorry," Xander said as he felt a little part of himself die seeing his old friend like this. The one that they had been trying so hard to save.

"Sorry?" Jesse said like he hadn't got the faintest idea what Xander was talking about, "I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything!"

Behind them Buffy was trying to close a hatch, before the other vampires got through it.

"I, I can hear the worms in the earth!" Jesse said as he tried to convey to Xander the awesome power that he now felt.

"That's a plus," Xander replied not sure what to do next.

"I know what the Master wants," Jesse said as he looked at Xander, "I'll serve his purpose. That means you die. And I feed."

"Xander, the cross!" Buffy yelled struggling with the hatch. Xander looked down briefly at the cross he was holding, then he held it up towards Jesse. As soon as he did Jesse stepped back and growled at the sight of the hated symbol.

"Jesse, man. We're buds," Xander said, like he was trying to convince Jesse not to be a vampire, "don't you remember?"

"You're like a shadow to me now," Jesse replied, his words cutting Xander deep. To his credit he recovered quickly.

"Then get outta my face," Xander said to what used to be his best friend, equal to Willow.

As the scuffle erupted older Xander shook his head in dismay and turned away. Losing Jesse was like losing his brother. To see him again like this was like opening an old wound that had never healed, just quietly stewed on a soft fire of infection. He hated vampires ever since and now seeing him again like one, having become that which for so long he had hated the most, well, it didn't do well for his mood. Lashing out Xander struck a wall and knocked a huge hole in it.

"Fuck this!" he yelled.

Then he heard the whispering again. And at the end of the tunnel he saw something move.

"Come here!" Xander yelled as he sped through the tunnel.

And found nothing.

x

* * *

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

As he came to the end of the tunnel Xander found something completely else. What he saw made him retch and turn away, unable to watch as he put his hands on his ears to stop the screams.

By now he knew that he was merely an observer in a gross play being put on for his amusement. One that probably played out in milliseconds as in the real world his brain was dying. So when he came upon the scene where his travel companions and friends from Tanjecterly, Fisk and Liana, were being gutted by Mang Berserkers he would give his right arm to be able to step in and intervene.

But he couldn't.

Some things are just too unbearable to watch when you can't do anything about it and this was it.

"NO MORE," Xander yelled both angry and in emotional agony, "Please, I beg you, no more of this!"

As the scene faded away amidst the whispering noises something occurred to Xander.

How come he have memories of Fisk and Liana's death scenes when he wasn't even around at the time?

x

* * *

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately.

Buffy was dying.

x

* * *

x

Standing underneath the orange sky Xander watched as his one and a half year younger self lay there against an altar, immobile thanks to the treachery of one Ferucca, crazy Saiyan bitch!

Sprawled all over him was Angela. Or to be precise, Angela inside Ferucca's body. And she was about to die, having worn out the limited lifespan of this body.

"Xander?" she said sounding extremely tired, "can you kiss me please?"

"Sure," immobile Xander said and moved his head so he could give her the most clumsy kiss of his life, "talk of being awkward."

"That's alright," she replied whispering, "I got what I wanted. I'm ready to go now."

Poor Angela, Xander thought heartbroken, she gave so much and asked for so little. And look what it got her, nothing but grief. Everything around me withers and dies.

"This isn't fair," immobile Xander said. She didn't respond. He turned his head and looked at her. Her eyes were closed.

"No," immobile Xander wailed, "not you too!"

"Did you say something?" Angela whispered softly, with Xander almost having to lean over to hear what happened next.

"Yes," immobile Xander said as he sniffed his nose, "I love you, and I don't just mean like in the friend zone. I love you, Angela Henderson."

A tear rolled down Xander's eyes. He remembered saying that. To this day he wasn't quite sure though if he had meant it or not. Maybe he had meant it at that time though.

Angela didn't immediately respond to his open declaration of his love for, but she did smile slightly.

"No you don't," she eventually said, "but it's nice of you to say."

Dammit! He wanted to pick her up and take her to Shimrod, so he could extract her mind, soul and essence in time. But as a spectator there was absolutely nothing he could do. Dammit!

"This is nice," Angela whispered after immobile Xander suddenly could move his arm and put it over her. And then her life ended.

"No!" immobile Xander wailed as he drew Angela's body in a tighter embrace.

Sick to his stomach Xander looked on, clenching his fists in impotent rage as Angela's host body disintegrated amidst whispering voices.

"I get it, real funny," Xander said not very amused as he looked skywards again as Angela's body disintegrated in swirling colors, "I suck! I'm useless. I might as well die since I can't do jack shit!"

"What if you could?" a voice whispered in his ear and Xander turned his head around.

Only to look straight into the eyes of the First Slayer.

He had come across the First Slayer for the first (and only) time after the enjoining spell that they had used against Adam. The thing had stalked him, Buffy, Faith, Willow and Giles in their dreams for performing the spell in the first place.

It was not very amused.

Now it stared at him again.

"What if you could do something?" the First Slayer repeated, her face just inches away from his, staring at him with her cold, cold eyes. Then she spoke again.

"The Slayer is dying. Save the Slayer!"

"How?" Xander said angry, "I'm almost dead myself. I can't do jack shit! And even if I could I'm no match for Cell. Hell, Buffy's stronger then me and even she can't do jack shit!"

"Embrace the power," the First Slayer said.

"What power?" Xander asked having no clue what she was talking about.

"Your birthpower," the First Slayer said.

Then Xander heard something roar. Something massive, something primal. Something he had only heard three times before. Two times in Sunnydale. And once in a place called Tanjecterly, as it tore apart a city. A primordial guttural scream, one that could only be unleashed by a terrible primordial beast.

"Embrace!" the First Slayer said again, then she struck Xander's forehead, causing him to fall to his knees."

"Aw crap," Xander yelled as he clutched his head where the First Slayer had struck him. Then the world around him began to crack.

"Embrace!" her voice yelled one last time, "Save the Slayer!"

And from the cracks shone a bright golden light.

x

x

"Xander, please, help me!" Buffy called out desperately as Cell sucked out her very lifeforce, her essence, her soul.

"Cry all you want," Cell said smug as he drained her dry, "Your friend is out and can't help. Soon you'll be part of perfec….."

Suddenly the teen that he was slowly choking to death erupted in a blaze of golden chi.

DOOM!

The shockwave was so great that it blew Buffy clean off Cell's spike and sent her crashing (again) in the Pacific Ocean.

Which was a godsend as the cold water brought her back to her senses. She tried to swim but found that the leg that Cell had used as a soda drink wasn't responding. Still she managed to claw herself up to the surface.

On the surface she was greeted by the strangest sight.

Cell was staring down Xander.

But Xander had changed, changed from the Xander shaped friend she'd come to know.

He had transformed.

Hanging the air Xander was surrounded by blazing flames of chi.

But they weren't the silver white flames she had known.

Nor had she ever seen him with his hair standing up straight.

If she didn't know any better she'd say that Xander Harris had just joined the Super Saiyan community.

If that was true then they suddenly stood a major chance to make it through this.

But something was wrong as well.

Every time Belmo, Goku and Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan their chi shone a bright shiny golden chi. And they looked really confident as well.

Since it was his first time as a Super Saiyan she figured that she could forgive Xander's less then confident stance. But what really worried her was his both his hair color and the color of his chi flames. They weren't golden.

They were more a very pale yellow.

x

* * *

x

Xander knew that something was wrong the moment he transformed.

Yeah, sure he felt he could now tap into vast reserves of previously undreamt power.

But was it supposed to hurt this much?

It felt like he was on fire and nails were being driven into his muscles.

He would scream like a little girl too. If it weren't for the fact that Cell was watching.

"This is unexpected," Cell said as he took stock of the situation.

"I reckon so," Xander replied trying to sound calmly.

"So what are we going to do now?" Cell asked, "Now that we've come upon a new milestone in our relationship."

"Fight?" Xander suggested as he casually folded his arms across his chest. A move which hurt like hell and took every ounce of his willpower not to scream out in pain.

"Puhlease," Cell snorted incredulously, "Even if by some miracle you did turn into what appears to be a Super Saiyan, which I would love to know how, chances are you aren't going to be a very strong one. This is still new to you."

Xander threw his head to his shoulders, like he was stretching his neck muscles. Again it hurt like hell.

"It also means I'm eager to test myself," he said exercising supreme willpower not to scream in pain, instead he began to smirk and uttered that phrase that drove Buffy insane, "I _hunger_ for a true challenge."

"Spoken like a true Super Saiyan indeed," Cell concurred.

"So, champ, what's it going to be," Xander said, "Are we going to find out what I'm made off? Or are you going to run away before Pickles puts a dent in your plan and offs the poor little android?"

Cell didn't reply. So Xander upped the ante by starting to stretch his fingers as ostentatious as possible.

"Well, punk," he said confidently, "do you feel lucky?"

For a moment Cell still said nothing.

And then he disappeared in a blaze of white chi and was gone.

As soon as he did Xander de-transformed, screamed like a little girl and fell into the water, letting the cold waters of the Pacific numb his pain.

As he lay there floating on his back he heard somebody splash in the water, then he heard Buffy's voice.

"Xander, are you alright? What happened?"

"I wish I knew, Buff, I wish I knew."


	21. Interlude 'Confessions and Lamentations'

**Interlude:**

' **Confessions and Lamentations'**

x

x

AN: _We are finally entering the alternative timeframe of Trunks and Mayan as all the Scoobies are now either dead or gone. Don't worry, there is still plenty of bad stuff in store for them. ;)_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 9 years, 4 months, 14 days, somewhere, sometime

x

"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Throwing the customary handful of dirt in to the grave, the rabbi performed the last rites in the pouring rain. Then as he stepped back to recite prayers the rabbi allowed the others to pay their last respects.

Stepping forward Trunks picked up some earth, then he threw it onto the simple wooden casket of Willow Rosenberg. Biting down on his lip he briefly nodded, then he walked away, a single tear on his cheek.

Gohan was next. It was he who had brought back Willow's charred body, carefully cleaned it, wrapped her in white linen before placing her in a simple wooden coffin. All the while never letting anyone see Willow's body. He was going to be damned if anyone would see her like that, not even Bulma. And certainly not the children.

It had been Bulma's idea to go for a traditional Jewish funeral. Something that Gohan thought was pants. Willow had been anything but traditionally Jewish. And judging by her recent activities she had ceased being Jewish and crossed over to another 'denomination' altogether. One to which Gohan preferred not even to begin thinking what the exact funeral service would entail.

Then again, if it made Bulma and the others happy, what was the harm in that?

At least Gohan approved of the location. Right next to the grave of Xander here in the Briefs family cemetery. The two had been very close friends in their youth and Gohan thought that if they could the both of them would have approved.

So throwing his bit of dirt on her casket Gohan walked on.

Next up was Bulma.

"I am so….. angry with you right now," Bulma said soft but accusingly, "I'm mad at you for doing this….., this stupid thing! What were you thinking doing something like this. And worst of all, why didn't you come to me!"

Having vented her anger she dropped her handful of dirt on Willow's casket.

"I miss you, Will," Bulma said mournfully, then she walked away.

Next came a steady progression of Capsule Corp. employees and colleagues who had all been touched by Willow in their lives. A few of the women seemed to be crying, which caused Gohan to suspect they were former lovers. Which caused him to be very glad that he never allowed anyone to see her remains.

Last to come forward was Mayan.

The girl was heartbroken as Willow had been her surrogate mother these past years and now she had no one anymore. All those connected to her old past and family were now gone. Seeing her cry made Gohan all the more determined to live up to her. To finally defeat those androids once and for all. To give meaning to their sacrifices. To the lives lost. And to those who were still going to die.

Mayan had to be steadied by both Trunks and Bulma. And then came the moment for Mayan to drop her handful of dirt on Willow's casket. What he saw on her face caused Gohan's heart to break.

As she dropped the dirt Mayan stopped crying. Instead she put on what Willow liked to call her resolve face. Like she was steeling herself to the rest of the world, locking off a part of herself, her vulnerability, her feelings. Locking them away until all that remained was pure resolve.

And hatred.

It was something Gohan recognized because it was exactly what he had done, all those years ago.

x

* * *

x

A whole ton of hurt had come down upon Capsule Corp. in the wake of Willow's death. Not the least of which was trying to pick up from where Willow had left as head of Capsule Corp. logistics.

As Bulma tried to make sense of the complicated network, many of whom were personal contacts known only to Willow, Bulma couldn't help but be in awe at Willow's organizational skills. How on earth had she managed to combine this gargantuan task?

Or how on earth had she managed to combine her work as head of Capsule Corp. logistics with taking care of the children _and_ researching _and_ training herself in the black arts? It was a colossal achievement of epic proportions and Bulma strongly suspected that she had used some of that black magic to nullify her need for sleep. And secretly Bulma hoped that Willow had left her the clues to that spell because she sure could use the extra hours in a day.

Then there was the personal aftermath of Willow's death.

Like missing a good friend and confidant.

Who granted, had kept secrets from her, black magic secrets, secrets that could have handed the Earth over to the forces of Demonic Darkness.

But she was still a friend and a sounding board for any ideas that popped into Bulma's head. No matter how crazy or stupid they might be, Will had always given her her honest opinion. And in doing so been a great help. One that couldn't be replaced. It had been Willow that had been instrumental in developing what people were now calling the hoi poi capsule, the small capsule that could expand into a large container. Or something else. Or back again into a small capsule. It was what made long distance trade viable. A man could travel from the East Coast to the West Coast and carry a truckload of goods in just a carrying bag full of capsules. Where was she going to find another scientific genius close to her level?

But even bigger then that was the greatest tragedy.

Knock knock.

As somebody knocked on the door of her business office, with a little more force then was necessary.

"Come in," she said, after which the door opened and Trunks and Mayan stepped inside.

"Please sit," Bulma said as she gestured to the chair on the other side of her desk. As Mayan sat down Trunks stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

It was incredible how adult that made him look, Bulma thought as she felt a lump grow in her throat. It also made it way harder to do what she had to do next.

"Sorry," she said as she coughed to clear her throat, then she focused her attention on Mayan, "Look, Mayan honey, I know this is not the best time to do this, but I don't think any better time will come soon. Now that Willow's dead, certain things have to be taken care off."

"What kind of things?" Mayan asked, a little to weary for comfort.

"Well….," Bulma said uncomfortably, "There is the matter of your sister, Buffy. I know a company nurse did some of the work but it was mostly Willow that took care of Buffy. What do you want us to do for your sister?"

Mayan's eyes narrowed to the point that it looked like she would shoot laser beams from them. Could she do that? Bulma wasn't sure, maybe she should ask Gohan if she could.

"I don't have a sister," Mayan stated coldly.

Damn, she was afraid this would happen.

"Look, Mayan," Bulma said cautiously as she tried to find the right words, "I know that you feel uncomfortable around your sister. But what happened wasn't her fa…"

"I don't have a sister!" Mayan said as she beat her fist on the table, causing a serious dent, "She left me, as far as I'm concerned she's dead to me!"

Bulma looked up to Trunks for help but he gave her the look that said 'I know that you're right, but there is no way in hell that I'm getting involved in this'.

"I see," Bulma said downcast, "So you're sister's dead. Fine. How do you want us to arrange for her final 'resting place'?"

"I don't care," Mayan said angry, "Throw her in the garbage for all I care! She's dead to me. I'm getting out of here!"

Hopping of her chair Mayan stomped out of the room and threw the door behind her so hard it came loose.

"Well, that went well," Bulma said.

It was only then that Trunks spoke up.

"Look, mom, she's not ready for this," he said as he looked her into her eyes, "She may never be."

"Do you think I like doing this?" Bulma snapped at her son, immediately regretting it, "I'm sorry, Trunks. I didn't mean to."

"I know, mom," Trunks replied as he nodded appreciatively, "I understand."

"But this has to be taken care off," Bulma said, "Someone has to take care of her sister."

"Can't you just hire a nurse?" Trunks asked.

"Son," Bulma said as she gave her son a stern look, "Do you have any idea how much a full time nurse costs? Money doesn't grow on trees. In fact I'm not sure it even exists outside of San Francisco any more."

Trunks came around the desk and put his hand onto hers.

"Could you just do it, mom?" the boy pleaded, "Please?"

Seeing her son beg Bulma's objections faded away. How could she refuse her own flesh and blood?

"Alright," Bulma said, "I'll hire a nurse. Maybe the company physician knows someone who's not too expensive."

"Thanks, mom," Trunks said smiling, "you're the greatest!"

"I guess we owe it to her in some way," Bulma said solemnly, then she looked away and sighed, "I wish that Goku was still here."

Then Bulma put her arms around her son and drew him close to her chest.

"Did I ever tell you about the time that Goku….."


	22. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter 11**

' **Bodysnatchers'**

x

x

AN: _Sometimes you set out to write a story and in true Soviet Russian style the story writes you. This is one such story as this chapter got way out of hand. I probably was too ambitious to think I could fit this in one chapter. It ended up becoming three!_

 _Another fun titbit, I just killed off 'The Saiyan' in the previous chapter and nobody seems to have noticed it._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 11

x

Gohan had been left all alone on the Tenka Lookout when suddenly a scream pierced through the calm

"I HATE YOU!"

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Goku's voice said, trying to sound comforting.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" was the only shrill reply.

Next thing Mayan came storming by from behind a building, followed by Goku looking apologetic. The girl made to the edge of the Lookout, then she sat down.

"AAAAAAH!" she cried as she sat down on the stump that used to be her tail. Then she jumped up.

"I can't believe you tore of my tail," she said angry as she examined her stump.

"I had to," Goku said apologetic, then he pointed upwards to the artificial moon she had created, "It's still up there, you see."

"Bastard!" Mayan muttered as she turned her back towards him.

"If it's any consolation you could probably grow it back with a senzu bean," Goku said.

"Give me one. Now!" Mayan demanded as she looked at Goku.

"I would but that moon's still up there," the Saiyan said as he shook his head, "You would change again."

Upon which Mayan turned her back towards him again.

"I hate you!" she said again.

"I'm sorry," Goku said apologetic, "But if its any consolation you would never have made it there in time. But Cell is moving again and your sister and Xander have survived."

"I have no sister," Mayan said gruff, "And now, again, thanks to you, I no longer have a father."

Not sure what to say Goku looked down. He tried to come up with something to say, but then the next crisis presented itself.

x

* * *

x

Krillin had been flying topspeed towards the US mainland when he spotted a dot in the distance coming towards him. Halting he put up his hand.

"Faith!"

She almost whizzed past him but came to a dead stop.

"Krillin," she asked, "Why are you here?"

"I heard you were coming with the controller that would shut the androids down," the little fighter said.

"Yeah," Faith said, then her eyes glistered and she began to grin, "Wanna see it?"

"Sure," Krillin said eagerly, upon which Faith opened a small purse and took it out. It was the size of a controller for a remote controlled car or airplane. It had only a single antenna and a single unmarked button.

"She said take it to within ten meters of the android, press the button and presto!" Faith grinned, her grin turning mischievous now.

"I see," Krillin said. This could turn the tide of battle in favor of them. It could also mean the end of a certain blonde android as well.

"Where's Piccolo?" Faith asked, sounding a little concerned.

"He's on one of those islands southwest of Roshi's island," Krillin said, "He's fighting the androids. And Cell's on his way."

"Then I have to go there as well," Faith said, then she sped off again at top speed, leaving a flabbergasted Krillin behind.

"Wait! Don't you need….." he said as he held up the controller then he shrugged, "Why do I even bother?"

Then Krillin set off after her.

x

* * *

x

KICK!

A kick against the head sent Piccolo flying backwards.

But the mighty Namek recovered as he brought both hands in front of him as he flew backwards to perform an impromptu Masenko.

DOOM!

The blast hit Android #17 square in the face and when he landed on all fours he seemed anything but amused.

But then he began to smirk as he looked at Piccolo who was panting heavily.

"The difference in power between us is negligible," Android #17 smirked, "It's a shame really that the same can't be said about your stamina. I will _never_ run out of energy."

And the sad thing was that Piccolo wholeheartedly agreed. In fact his power had already begun to deteriorate and it was only skill that had kept him in the game.

But not for long.

As he panted Piccolo desperately tried to come up with a strategy that might still snatch victory from defeat. But then he looked aside and knew he had to abandon even those long shots.

Standing on top of a hill stood Piccolo's greatest nightmare and fear now began to take hold of him.

Cell had arrived.

x

* * *

x

"Stupid Saiyan idiot!" Mayan muttered aggrieved as she tried to sit down without sitting down on her now very tender tail stump.

Feeling bad for what he had done, as necessary as it was though, Goku watched her for a moment. Then he looked at the still closed door of the Room of Spirit and Time.

No news from the Western Front.

Then he looked at Gohan who seemed sick with worry again. Which could only mean that….

Goku extended his senses and then he gasped for air as well.

Cell had arrived.

x

* * *

x

"What is that, what is this freak?" Android #17 said as he saw Cell, both surprised at what he was seeing and angered that his fight had been interrupted.

He doesn't know, Piccolo thought bewildered, they don't know about Cell. And then Cell spoke up.

"Finally, despite everything that happened this is turning out to be a memorable day," the creature said gloating, "The day I become…., perfect."

Cell jumped off his hill and landed not that far from Piccolo and Android #17. He then balled his fist as he assumed a power stance.

And then he yelled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

As he powered up Cell's power began to grow.

And grow.

And grow.

No way, Piccolo thought, his power has grown almost…. Good God! How many people did that freak kill to get this strong?

The earth trembled as Cell powered up, with dirt rising into the air. For a moment Piccolo feared that Cell might tear the island apart. And for a moment it looked that way. And then it stopped.

As a white halo of chi flames surrounded him Cell began to walk and passed a trembling and fear stricken Piccolo.

"Feel free to stop me at any time, Piccolo," Cell sneered as he walked passed Piccolo.

It wasn't until Cell had passed Piccolo that Piccolo finally spoke up.

"How many people did you murder to gain all that extra strength?" Piccolo asked.

"Murder? They should feel honoured to be part of me," Cell grinned, then he walked up towards Android #17.

"I don't know who you are," Android #17 said highly annoyed, "but you're bothering me. Go away. I'm playing with the other guy."

Cell didn't reply.

At least not verbally.

Instead he raised his tail, aiming the spike at #17.

"#17! HE WANTS TO KILL AND ABSORB YOU!" Piccolo yelled, "RUN AWAY!"

Before #17 could react to what Piccolo had yelled Cell's tail lashed out and tried to skewer the android.

It was only because he had been in battle for so long that #17 managed to avoid being skewered as his body reacted before his brain did. Next Cell made several more stabbing attempts, putting Android #17 on the defensive. Then he finally counter attacked. But his punch backfired as Cell took hold of him.

Next thing Cell grabbed #17 and threw him around like a raggedy doll. First slamming him face first into the earth, then backwards again and slamming him head first into the ground again. He probably would have slammed him around some more if it weren't for Piccolo.

Throwing everything he had into a spinning kick Piccolo's foot came to a very hard and sudden stop against Cell's face, causing Cell to let go of Android #17 and stagger backwards. As he wearily eyed Piccolo Cell didn't look very amused. A discomfort Piccolo could live with.

"Damn him, he got me by surprise," Android #17 said as he got up and joined Piccolo's side, then he briefly glanced at Piccolo, "What did you mean when you said that monster wants to absorb me?"

"To put it simply, his name is Cell," Piccolo explained without taking his eyes off of the thing, "He was created by a hidden computer of Gero. But he's not yet reached his final form. He needs to absorb two more beings to gain full power. And guess who he needs to absorb to reach his final form, you and #18."

"WHAT?" Androids #17 and #18 exclaimed both in unison. Then Cell spoke up again.

"Rejoice my siblings," Cell said jubilant, "By becoming part of me you will give birth to an invincible and perfect lifeform. One that will become the ultimate warrior that Dr. Gero spent for so long trying to create."

"Don't be stupid," #17 snorted in disgust, "I have no intention in getting absorbed into you. I'm already the perfect warrior."

Cell slowly folded his arms across his chest.

"The avalanche has already started, little pebble," Cell said confidently, "You're going to be absorbed no matter what."

"Getting pissed off here," #17 said as he assumed a fighting stance, "How about you absorbing some shut the fuck up instead?"

Then the big android, #16, spoke up.

"GET OUT, #17," he yelled, "HE'S MUCH TOO POWERFUL FOR YOU TO FIGHT!"

As #16 and #18 were behind him Cell glared contemptuously over his shoulder. He had not recognized Android #16 but assumed he was an older model. And thus nothing to worry about.

"Oh look, it can speak," he sneered.

"We can't allow him to become perfect," #16 continued, "His goal is not to kill Goku, but to end all of creation."

"I can't believe my ears," #17 said incredulously, "Just when I think you had something good to say you want me to run away?"

Then #17 launched himself at Cell.

"Who do you think I am, #16?" he grinned, "Stupid?"

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Goku looked worried with his eyes closed.

"This is not going well," he groaned.

"Maybe if you had let me go we wouldn't be in this mess," Mayan grumbled from her spot near the edge.

"Cell would have had you for breakfast," Goku replied agitated, "And if he had survived Belmovekk would then have had me for breakfast."

"Gee, aren't you lucky you saved me and let my father die instead?" Mayan sneered back.

x

* * *

x

On the island Piccolo wasn't doing so well.

As soon as Android #17 attacked Cell showed him seven kinds of smack down.

Which meant that Piccolo had to get involved as well to save the brainless android.

Attacking Cell with a knee to the head Cell easily blocked his attack with one hand and then smacked his fist into Piccolo's face with so much force Piccolo could have sworn he now carried a Cell like fist imprint.

Sent backwards crashing into the ground Piccolo tried to make sense of the pain in his face. None of #17's punches had ever hurt as much as this one.

"Fuck!" Piccolo groaned as he clutched his face. Attempting to ignore the pain Piccolo tried to get up when a shadow fell over him. As he looked over his shoulder he saw Cell standing there.

Next thing Cell kicked and sent Piccolo flying through the air and crash several hundred feet away. And as the mighty Namek tried to get up Cell walked up to him in a contemptuously slow gait.

Meanwhile androids #16 and #18 had been watching totally engrossed. Especially #18 seemed spellbound. But only because she was experiencing an outside context problem. How could anything be stronger then both #17 and her?

Finally she snapped out of her reverie and looked at #16

"#16," she asked, "You can detect energy, right? Are #17 and that guy holding back?"

"No," #16 said as he shook his head, "Cell's just too strong for them."

Then #16's eyes narrowed, as if he had made a decision.

"You should leave on your own, #18," he said resolutely, "#17 is not listening to my warnings. If you both get absorbed no one will be able to stop Cell."

#16's words caused #18 to look oddly at the big android.

"#16, what are you going to do?"

Before #16 could reply somebody else was screaming.

It was Piccolo.

x

* * *

x

On a different hill Tien was watching.

He had hoped to delay Cell but was too late. But from what he had seen there was probably no way for him that he could have stopped Cell for one second. He just lacked the power to be even the tiniest speed bump.

Normally that would have meant that he was instead part of what had become known as 'the cheerleader squad'. But Tien was now determined to break the habit. He was so going to do something to nail Cell. If he could only think of a way how.

Below him Piccolo was gathering in his energy, the Namek preparing to do something big, something truly epic. And whatever it was, it was something the Namek had never previously done.

As Tien watched on intently he didn't notice that someone was standing next to him before it was too late.

"Playing Basic Instinct, Tien?" a female voice said, "Why, I never figured you to be a peeping tom. Then again, it probably explains much."

"Dear God!" Tien exclaimed as he reached for his chest, "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Then don't allow others to sneak up on you," Faith said unrepentant.

"Get down," Tien said as he grabbed her by her leather trousers.

"Gee, and here I was thinking you were gay," Faith smiled as she allowed herself to be pulled down, "turns out that all this time you were just bi-curious."

"You listen too much to Yamcha," Tien said annoyed, "I don't want to get caught. That's all."

"Why?" Faith asked curious, "maybe you were planning on cheerleading, but I came here to help Piccolo."

"You'd only get in his way," Tien said, then he nodded towards Cell, "And I'm not planning to cheerlead, I'm biding my chance to stick it to Cell."

Faith nodded unimpressed.

"You keep thinking that if it helps you sleep better at night."

x

* * *

x

Below Piccolo had gathered in his energy. This attack was new and untested, it also drained like hell. But they were in Hail Mary territory now. There was no time for anything else.

Hell, there wasn't anything else!

As Piccolo raised his energy to the max he poured it all into the ball of deadly chi that was forming between his hands.

"I do this for Gohan," Piccolo said softly as sweat poured off his face like it was raining, "And for you, Faith."

Not far from him Android #17 watched on in absolute horror. If there was one thing he couldn't do it was increase his energy for one massive force multiplier attack. And as he watched it dawned on him that if he had been on the receiving end of this attack it might have been game over for him.

Then #17 looked at Cell, who just stood there arrogantly.

He's going to just take it? Is he serious?

Then Piccolo yelled.

"DIE!"

And a piercing beam of obscene death shot from Piccolo's ball of chi towards Cell.

The last thing #17 saw as he jumped towards safe distance was Cell just standing there as the attack sped towards him.

x

* * *

x

On the Tenka Bowl everybody's eyes grew big as saucers.

"No way!" Mayan yelled at the sheer display of energy being unleashed.

"Maybe Piccolo might make it after all," Gohan said excited.

Goku didn't reply, instead he closed his eyes again.

Please let it be enough, Piccolo, please let it be enough.

x

* * *

x

"We're getting a reading again from Pearl, Sir," tech-sergeant Walters spoke up in the SGC control room, then the sergeant looked at Sam, "Patching it through to you, sir."

"Good God!" Sam said in shock as she looked at the data on her screen, "It's off the charts!"

"Did we have any then?" O'Neill couldn't help but remark.

"I have satellite images, sir," another technician said and transferred them to Sam's station as well.

"Whoa, that _is_ impressive," O'Neill said impressed.

x

* * *

x

As the mother of all mushroom clouds rose into the sky Faith and Tien raised their heads up from the dirt.

"Please don't make it so that I pissed my pants," Faith moaned as pieces of dirt rained down all around them.

"Screw piss," Tien said, "I'd be glad if I didn't crap in mine."

x

* * *

x

As strong winds blasted them in the face, and with pieces of debris raining down around him androids #18 and #16 finally got a chance to see the damage.

Half the island had been blown away and where Cell had been there was now a giant bay.

And no sign whatsoever of Cell.

"He did it!" Android #18 said elated.

Beside her Android #16 seemed anything but elated.

"No he didn't," the big android said, "Cell hasn't even taken any damage."

"You can't be serious," #18 said looking at #16, "That was big enough to finish off even #17 or me?"

"Cell's nothing like you two," #16 said, "And I mean that in every respect."

As if to illustrate his point the water in the new bay began to boil, causing steam to rise. And then Cell appeared from the water, his chi flames burning brightly. When he floated above the water Cell moved forward until he was over land again. Then he touched down and walked towards Piccolo.

x

* * *

x

"No way!" Tien gasped on top of the hill

"Uh, yes way?" Faith said nodding towards Cell.

"It's…, it's impossible," Tien said as he shook his head, "He's just too strong! What can I do?"

"Damned if I know," Faith said equally horrified, "but Jolly Green should really get the hell out of Dodge."

x

* * *

x

Unfortunately for Piccolo that attack had taken everything out of him. He literally had nothing left to give. He couldn't even move as Cell came towards him and then halted right in front of him.

"Get the hell out of here, #17," Piccolo yelled as he panted heavily

SLAP!

To punish him for his insolence Cell slapped Piccolo so hard his head almost came off.

But something did come off. A loud cracking sound was also heard. Like that of bones breaking.

x

* * *

x

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

On the lookout Gohan was screaming like a madman, trying to break free from Goku's grasp. For it was clear as crystal what was now happening to Piccolo. And Gohan was losing it.

"I could use some help here," Goku said towards Mayan.

"I could have used some, didn't get any," Mayan shrugged indifferent.

"He's my son," Goku pleaded, "I beg you, please, help!"

Mayan thought it over for a while. And just when it seemed that she was going to refuse she stood up and came towards Goku. Then she positioned herself in front of Gohan.

"PICCOLO!" Gohan wailed desperately, "PICCO….."

SLAP!

Just like that she slapped Gohan in the face and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I know you love your beloved teacher, sensei," Mayan said sternly but calmly, "Believe me, I know. But you're not helping him like this. Not now. Not ever."

As she spoke she stared intently into Gohan's eyes and that, her words and the slap caused Gohan to quiet down. As he did Goku hugged his son.

"Thank you," he said grateful to Mayan.

"Oh, I didn't do it for you, asshole," Mayan said as she walked back to her position near the edge, "I did it for him. For _my_ teacher."

x

* * *

x

On the island Tien wasn't so lucky calming Faith down. As below them Cell was picking up Piccolo's body he could see that Piccolo's neck was broken. And so did Faith, causing her to go ballistic.

"NOOOOOO!" Faith yelled as she launched herself in the air and raced towards Piccolo

But before she could reach him Cell put his free hand on Piccolo's stomach and fired a blast right through him.

"Goodbye!" Cell sneered as he let go of Piccolo's limp body and casually threw it into the sea.

Next thing Cell held up his arm and warded of Faith's attack. As he deflected her attack with casual ease Cell hit her with his other arm and knocked her down to the ground.

As Faith had her wind knocked out of her she shook her head to get the dizziness out of her system. As she did she noticed that somebody, or rather something was hunched next to her.

"You're a Slayer," Cell's voice said somewhat curious, "Isn't there only supposed to be only one of you? Or did that blonde bitch finally bought it?"

"I'll show you," Faith hissed, then she threw herself at Cell.

Only to get stopped only inches away from his face.

"Yes, show me that glorious fighting Slayer fighting spirit!" Cell said appreciatively, then he smirked, "Sister."

Then it clicked inside Faith.

"You have B.'s DNA?"

"Guilty as charged," Cell grinned, "But only hers though. Not you."

"I don't believe it!" Faith said in a mixture of disbelief and anger, "That computer takes B.'s DNA but not mine? Why do I feel like I'm in shaft city all over again?"

"I'm honored," Cell said impressed, "It is rare to meet somebody who actually wants to be part of me. Of course it's a big honor."

Then Cell sucker punched Faith in the gut and casually threw her aside.

"Any other day I would be more then welcome to honor your request, Slayer, but not today," Cell said as he casually walked away, "I have no time to play with you. Count your blessings that I'm too busy."

As Faith collapsed to the floor she grasped her stomach, she was in so much pain, pain that she couldn't even begin to image. It was nothing like she had ever experienced before and it felt like her innards had been turned to mush.

With Faith out of the running Cell calmly walked towards Android #17, who braced himself for combat.

"You're not going to get me that easily," Android #17 said defiantly.

Meanwhile androids #16 and #18 had watched in horror as first Piccolo had been killed, then Faith's casual dismissal.

"It looks like I should really get away," #18 said as she appraised the situation. She knew #17's strength and ego were no match for this Cell after the way he had easily beaten Piccolo.

"That's right," #16 said encouragingly, "run away on your own."

"But what about you?" #18 asked the big android.

"I'm going to destroy Cell," #16 said off hand, like it was the most normal thing for him to say and do.

"Huh?" #18 said flabbergasted.

"The time has come for me to fight," the big android said regretfully, "Before we even had a chance to meet Son Goku."

Then Android #16 walked towards Cell.

"Wait!" Android #18 called out after him, "He'll kill you, #16! What are you going to do?"

For a moment Android #16 halted, then he looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"Goodbye," he smiled warmly, "You were good companions and you did not kill for fun or malice. Whatever they will say about you, remember that. I'm glad I traveled with you guys."

Meanwhile Cell had reached Android #17 and towered high above him.

Halting briefly Cell looked down at the still defiant Android #17. Then he moved lightning fast, too fast for #17 to follow adequately and before he had a chance to ward off Cell's attack Cell delivered yet another sucker punch to someone's stomach. This time #17's!

As #17 doubled up Cell delivered an elbow strike between #17's shoulders and the android collapsed in agony to the ground.

"DAMN!" #17 said in impotent rage as his fist pummeled the ground.

"You can't win, remember?" Cell gloated, "So are you giving up yet? I guess that means its time to absorb you."

Cell then picked up #17 like he was a sack of potatoes and held him up in front of him.

"Let me go you monster!" #17 said still defiantly. His body language said otherwise.

"Hey!" Cell said chiding, "You're about to become part of this monster. Some respect please."

Then Cell brought his tail up until the spike hovered above #17's head. Then to #17's dismay the spike changed shape into a funnel, about to suck him up.

"You're mine now," Cell said triumphantly as he lowered the funnel over #17's head and #17 tried in vain to stop its advance.

Yes!

Finally he would take the first step towards completion and perfection, Cell thought elated.

And then someone tapped on his shoulder.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Goku was trying to console Gohan when Mayan spoke up.

"Somebody's fighting Cell again," she said, "Someone with no chi. Maybe it's Android #18?"

"Not unless she's way stronger then #17," Goku said as he extended his senses, then he looked at Mayan, "Was she stronger in your time?"

"No," Mayan said as she shook her head, "#17 always said he was the strongest and we never got to see any evidence that said otherwise."

"I see," Goku said as he stared in the direction where the fight was taking place, "then perhaps….."

x

* * *

x

This couldn't be!

Just as he was about to have his greatest moment of triumph to date again he got interrupted.

By that other android no less, the one he had so dismissively disregarded as an older model. And yet that model was slapping him around senseless. Which meant he wasn't so outdated after all. In fact, as he quickly learned this android proved to be the strongest of them all. At the very least every much his equal.

This was bad!

It meant that like the fight which Piccolo had fought with Android #17 this could go on indefinitely. And if he had a similar infinite energy reactor like Androids #17 and #18 that placed him at a very disadvantageous position as Cell had nothing of the sort and could tire.

This meant Cell had to resort to more innovative tactics to win the day rather then let it turn into the kind of slogging match that favored this unknown android.

So when the android left an opening for Cell to exploit Cell drove home his spiked tail into the android's neck and tried to suck him dry for everything he had.

But to his horror Cell found no life force to suck dry.

"Damn!" he said both horrified and frustrated, "You're a fully robotic type."

Smiling at Cell's frustration Android #16 took hold of Cell's tail and yanked it out of his neck. Then, yelling loudly, Android #16 swung Cell around by his tail like he was a limp puppet and slammed him face first into the ground.

Next Android #16 put his foot down on Cell's ass and pulled with so much force that he tore off half of Cell's tail. Including that dangerous tail end of his.

"NOOOOOOO!" Cell yelled in pain as his tail got torn off.

"Now you can no longer absorb #17," Android #16 said deadpan as he casually threw away Cell's tail.

x

* * *

x

"He did it!" Tien said elated as he saw Android #16 drop Cell's tail to the ground. This strange and unknown android might still save the day for them. They would probably have to deal with him later but somehow Tien didn't think he was going to pose that big a problem for them like Cell was.

At least, that's what he hoped.

x

* * *

x

As Androids #17 and #18 watched on in utter disbelief Android #16 faced Cell again. He may have taken care of Cell's means to absorb Androids #17 and #18, that didn't mean it was over now.

Then, too his surprise Cell began to laugh.

"Silly robot," Cell laughed as he got up, "remember? I have Piccolo's DNA inside me as well."

Then the stump of Cell's tail twitched.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Cell yelled, then a new tail shot out from his stump.

"I can regenerate from at least that much damage," Cell panted as the two of them faced off again.

"I see," Android #16 said as he took stock of this new development, "I guess this means that in order to stop you from attaining your perfect form I will have to kill you instead."

"Impossible!" Cell snorted incredulously.

"I won't know until I try," Android #16 replied calmly.

"I already know!" Cell said, then his chi flames sprang back to life around him and he and Android #16 stormed each other again.

As Android #16 jumped feet first towards Cell, the wily creature evaded him by jumping into the air and using his momentum to kick the android far away. Cell gave pursuit and hit Android #16 right in the face again sending him flying away.

Only this time Android #16 was prepared and did something extraordinary.

He fired off his fist like it was a Cell seeking missile and it caught Cell by surprise as it slammed into his face.

As Cell flew backwards #16 flew after him. Grabbing his still in flight fist #16 clicked it back on his arm, then he drove it into Cell's face and smacked the monster into the ground.

As Cell slammed into the ground face first Android #16 picked Cell up by his neck and the root of his tail.

"Die!" Android #16 yelled, then he slammed Cell so hard into the ground the monster disappeared into a deep crater of his own creation.

Next thing Android #16 put both his hands underneath his armpits. Then with two loud clicks his hands detached and remained underneath his armpits. As he stood over the hole Cell had disappeared into Android #16 aimed the stumps of his arms at the hole.

"HELL'S FLASH!" Android #16 yelled and a massive amount of energy was fired into the hole Cell had made. So much so that on top of the hill Tien feared that the big android might blow up the planet.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then Tien's fears came to fruition as the earth on the entire island began to bulge and fountains of energy began to erupt.

x

* * *

x

"Forchrissakes!" Colonel O'Neill said aghast in the SGC control room as Major Carter's screen began to lit up with a dozen small windows of warning. Whatever was going on, this was the biggest going on so far.

"Pearl's reporting earthquakes now," Tech-Sergeant called out, "they're asking us if they should put on a tsunami alert."

"That might not be such a bad idea," General Hammond said.

x

* * *

x

On the island the ground was now littered with holes, with smoke rising from all of them. Standing at the edge of the biggest of them Android #16 attached his hands back to his arms.

On top of the hill Tien looked on in horror. Suddenly he wasn't so sure any more about this android not posing any threat. He might be the biggest of them all.

A few hundred feet away Android #17 also looked on in horror as he came to grasp with what he had just seen and his own ego that he was the strongest warrior. To his credit Android #17 handled it better then even he himself expected.

"Wow, I didn't know that #16 was _that_ strong," he said in awe.

Then Android #16 looked around and saw that Android #18 was still there.

"Are you still here?" he said worried, "I told you to run away."

"It's okay," Android #18 called back, "You defeated him. You've beaten Cell."

"I HAVEN"T BEATEN HIM!" #16 yelled at #18, "HE'S HURT BUT THAT WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL HIM!"

Then #16 turned his head and looked at Android #17.

"#17, please, take this opportunity to escape as well," he pleaded. But to no avail.

"Don't make me laugh," Android #17 said defiantly, "He hurt me. Do you think I would run off just because he hurt me a bit? You said he was hurt, right? I want to finish him off myself."

Then Android #17 pumped his fist into the air.

"Come on out, Cell!" #17 said out loud, "Show yourself, monster!"

At first nothing happened.

It was Tien who was the first to see Cell as he rose from a whole behind Android #17. And his tailspike had widened into a funnel again.

"#17, WATCH OUT!" Tien yelled in panic, "BEHIND YOU!"

As Android #17 turned around he looked right into Cell's smirking face.

"Here I am," Cell crowed victoriously, "Just like you asked!"

Before Android #17 could react the funneled tail came down upon him and engulfed him up to his waist.

Android #16 did react but was too far away. By the time he was halfway Android #17 had disappeared whole into Cell's tail.

"Oh no!" Tien said in horror as he saw Cell's chi flames first burn, and then explode all over the island.

Below him Android #16 decided that the time had come for discretion to be the better part of valor.

"GET OUT OF HERE, #18, he yelled as he flew low over the ground towards her, then Android #16 looked up towards the hill were Tien still was, "You should get out of here also!"

Next thing Android #16 passed the crumpled form of Faith, who had passed out from the pain and without stopping he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

x

* * *

x

"What the hell," Mayan said aghast as she stared in horror towards the west.

"He's done it," Goku said through gritted teeth from impotent rage, "He's chi's going through the roof."

"What does that mean?" Mayan asked horrified.

"That he has absorbed either Android #17 or #18," Goku said.

x

* * *

x

In the SGC control room Teal'c suddenly staggered backwards and reached for a chair to steady himself on.

"Teal'c buddy, are you alright?" O'Neill asked worried but the large Jaffa shook his free hand dismissively.

"I am fine, O'Neill," Teal'c said as he shook his head, "I suddenly felt dizzy."

"Maybe you should get some water," Daniel asked concerned, then his face clouded, "Teal'c, why is your nose is bleeding."

"I think we may have bigger problems," Sam said as she pointed at some soldiers who were also having nosebleeds. Soldiers who had gone through the chi training program.

x

* * *

x

As Tien watched on in horror he saw Cell change shape. Before he used to be more lean and scrawny, now he looked more like a body builder on steroids.

The large V shaped plate on his forehead had also disappeared, changing into two opposite upstanding headplates, like he had the hat of the pope on sideways. Also his chitin wings had now disappeared. And his face kinda now reminded Piccolo of Donald Duck, but with an almost flat beak for a mouth.

On the other side of the island Androids #16 and #18 had gathered when they halted and watched the now semi-perfect Cell in the distance.

"Quick!" #16 said still carrying Faith, "We have to get out of here, #18!"

Seeing that the remaining two androids were trying to make their escape Cell jumped after him. And to Tien's horror he closed the distance in no time, causing #16 and #18 to halt as they now found Cell in their way.

"How can you be so fast?" #16 said horrified.

x

* * *

x

On top of the hill Tien got up on his feet.

"This is bad," he said shaken, "really bad."

Then for a moment he allowed his fear free reign, letting it flow through his body. Then he closed his eyes and the fear was gone. Now only resolve remained.

"I am sorry, Chaozu," he said calmly, "I'll probably not survive this. On the plus side, I am going to stick it to Cell alright."

x

* * *

x

"Did you think you could get away from me?" Cell gloated as he stood in the two androids' way, "Not from me you can't."

"I have to say I'm even surprised myself with my new speed. Of course that comes from having absorbed #17. I wonder how strong I am now?"

The answer came in the shape of Android #16's fist as it smashed into Cell's face.

But this time the android didn't even put a dent into Cell's face. In fact it felt like hitting a brick wall. As Android #16 looked horrified at his lack of success Cell at first didn't look amuse, then he began to smirk as he realized the implications of what just happened.

Still smirking Cell put his open hand in front of #16's face. Then he casually fired off a blast at almost point blank range.

DOOM!

Android #16 and Faith's limp body were blown away backwards, only to land hard several hundred feet away. As smoke rose from Android #16's face the both of them lay there motionless.

"Hmm," Cell said as he looked at the hand that had fired off the blast, "It looks like I've gotten stronger as well."

Then Cell turned towards Android #18 and saw her standing there motionless, seemingly unable to move.

"Good," he said appreciatively, "It looks like you're smart enough to realize that you can't run away."

#18 didn't respond.

"It's your turn now," Cell smirked confidently, "Time to obtain my perfect form."

Before he could react #18 put her right hand on her chest.

"Take one more step and I'll destroy myself," she said resolutely, then she began to smirk as well, "You wouldn't want that now, do you?"

At first Cell didn't look pleased at this new turn of events, then he suddenly smiled and put up his hands.

"Can you hear me, #18?" #17's voice said, speaking through Cell's mouth, "It's me, #17. I'm here with Cell. It's great! Let yourself be absorbed. It's the only way to become the perfect life form."

Shocked at hearing her sibling's voice #18 almost let her guard down. Then a new voice spoke.

"Don't let him fool you, #18," Android #16 said, a large hole in his face still emitting smoke, yet somehow he still functioned as he got to his feet, "that's just Cell using #17's voice."

"You stay out of this, shut up," Cell said, still using #17's voice, "A robot like you can't understand how we feel."

Then he turned his attention back to Android #18.

"C'mon, #18, don't worry about it! Join us so we can be the ultimate power. That way we can fulfill Dr. Gero's wishes, to kill Son Goku and then conquer the universe!"

Android #18's face went through a whole range of emotions, but then she put on her resolve face.

"You are not #17!" she shouted angry, "We hated Gero for what he did to us and there is no way that you would call him great!"

Cell didn't look very amused as his little ploy at psychological warfare fell through.

"Fine! It looks like I have to absorb you by force," he said as he also put on his resolve face, "It would take you at least a second to prepare your self-destruct. I think I am fast enough to prevent you from killing yourself."

#18 didn't reply but sweat began to glisten on her forehead.

"Give it up," Cell said one last time, "Sister!"

Then one of his eyebrows went up as he noticed something, causing him to look up.

Only to see Tien hanging in the air above him.

The human fighter was surrounded by dark clouds of chi as he held his hands in front of his face, forming the shape of a triangle with his fingers.

x

* * *

x

On the lookout it was Goku this time who suddenly had panic written large on his face.

"Tien, no!" he said horrified.

x

* * *

x

"SHIN KI KOU HOU!"

DOOM!

Then to Android #18's amazement the ground in front of her, where Cell had been blew up, creating a huge crater.

Then the two androids looked up into the air and saw Tien as well.

"Why are you still here?" Tien shouted angry, here he was sacrificing his life so they could escape and they didn't, "Run away, NOW!"

"SHIN KI KOU HOU!"

DOOM!

Another massive blast tore into the ground and slammed into Cell as he made his way back to the surface.

Finally getting the hint #18 made towards #16.

"Can you fly?" she asked concerned as she landed next to him.

"I think so," Android #16 said shaky.

"Come!" Android #18 said hurried and about to take off.

"Wait!" Android #16 said as he pointed to Faith, "We have to take her with us!"

"SHIN KI KOU HOU!"

DOOM!

Looking briefly at yet another blast behind them, Android #18 shook her head.

"You're in no condition to carry her," she said disapprovingly.

"Then carry her for me," #16 replied.

"Fine," #18 muttered aggrieved as she picked up Faith's unconscious body, "Have it your way. Now let's go!"

Then the three of them took off.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Goku was pacing frantically.

"That's enough, Tien," Goku said as he was worried sick to his stomach, "Stop it! If you use the Ki-Kou-Hou any more you will die!"

"Well, well," Mayan said as she couldn't help but gloat at Goku's worries, "The wheel turns, doesn't it, Goku? Not so fun anymore to sit back and do nothing when it concerns someone _you_ care about."

x

* * *

x

"SHIN KI KOU HOU!"

DOOM!

This can't be happening, Cell thought as yet another Ki-Kou-Hou blast slammed into him and sent him back into the ground.

It wasn't like he sustained much damage.

On the contrary.

But every attack did slam him back into the ground and made it impossible for him to get out. And go after the escaping androids.

x

* * *

x

"Tien, I beg you," Goku said desperately on the Lookout, his fists balled in impotent rage, "Stop using the Ki-Kou-Hou!"

"What's the prob?" Mayan asked Gohan, "Why is he so worked up about Tien finally getting in a few good ones on behalf of the team?"

"Because Tien's not only using his chi to shoot at Cell," Gohan said also worried, "He's firing his life force at Cell. He could shoot himself to death."

x

* * *

x

"SHIN KI KOU HOU!"

DOOM!

Shooting one more blast Cell, Tien felt the world spin around him. He couldn't even see straight any more, he was now just shooting at that big hole in the ground and reacting as he felt Cell's chi rise to the surface again.

"SHIN KI KOU HOU!"

DOOM!

Again Tien fired, then he panted heavily as he now also lost his vision.

"For…. Chao….Zu," Tien panted as he tried to bring himself to firing off one more blast at that infernal thing.

But then the world turned to black.

x

* * *

x

As he finally emerged from that infernal hole in the ground Cell looked around him.

"Shit!," he muttered angry as he saw that the androids were gone, "They managed to get away."

Then he looked behind him and saw Tien's collapsed body lying on the ground.

"Bastard!" Cell said and felt his anger rise to new heights, "Tien's an insect and yet somehow he got in my way."

It was true. Somehow he had let himself be delayed by this insect and some of his anger turned towards himself. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He shouldn't leave loose ends lying about. Even loose ends had the ability to make him slip up.

Cell knew the Ki-Kou-Hou attack thanks from the DNA he had inherited from Tien. And he should have known that despite his weakness Tien was still one of the most foremost and skilled fighters on this planet. And that the Ki-Kou-Hou was probably the most potent chi attack known in existence. Unfortunately also the most deadly for its own user.

After he had berated himself his anger turned back in full on Tien.

"He'll probably die on his own," Cell said as he pointed his hand towards Tien's unconscious body, "But no more loose ends."

x

* * *

x

"No!" Goku said desperately on the Lookout as he brought two fingers to his forehead. Then he disappeared in a flash.

x

* * *

x

Cell was about fire a devastating blast at Tien when suddenly something flashed and a person appeared between him and Tien.

For a moment he thought that that annoying Saiyan had made a comeback.

Yet another loose end!

But then he recognized the man in front of him.

"Goku!" Cell exclaimed in a mixture of both shock and awe. The most feared and hated enemy of his creator, Dr. Gero.

"So you're Cell," Goku said calmly, giving off the appearance that he was in complete control.

Just like that asshole Saiyan, Cell thought, how do they do that?

"The way I am now it's impossible for me to fight you and win," Goku continued, "But give me one more day. And then I'll beat you into pulp!"

Cell looked surprised at Goku's boast.

"Did I hear myself correctly?" he asked curious, "Did you just say you could beat me in a day? Tomorrow?"

"Yes," Goku said determined.

"Okay," Cell said as he cupped his chin, "And what on Earth could change you so radically to give you that mystical power?"

Goku wanted to reply when he suddenly looked aside.

"That's Piccolo's chi," he said both surprised and relieved, "He's still alive!"

Before Cell could react Goku reached down, took Tien's hand and then brought two fingers to his forehead.

"Hang on," he said. And then he was gone.

Only to re-appear at the other end of the island.

How does he move so fast? Cell wondered, and wishing he could do the same. But then he saw what Goku was after.

Somehow Piccolo had survived and clung to life on the shore's edge.

More loose ends.

Seeing that Goku was pulling Piccolo's body out of the water and slinging him over his shoulder he realized what Goku was really after. A rescue mission.

"Oh no you don't!" Cell said as he sped towards Goku, "Trying to escape? I won't let you."

Cell was within striking distance and about to smash his fist into Goku's face when the Saiyan flashed and disappeared with both Tien and Piccolo.

"Damn that technique!" Cell said angry as his fist only hit empty space.

For a moment it looked like Cell was going to throw a fit when Cell composed himself again. What was done is done. He had more pressing engagements. Like trying to find Android #18.

"She can't have gotten far," he said as he took stock of the situation, "That other robot was pretty damaged. He'd be holding her back. Now where would I go if I was her? Somewhere safe, somewhere where she can hide. That rules out the open seas."

Then Cell turned towards the north-east.

"Of course," Cell said sounding pleased with himself, "Where else?"

Then he took off and sped towards the Hawaiian islands.

x

* * *

x

"Xander, how much longer?" Buffy complained.

"As long as it takes, Buff," Xander said sounding both tired and exhausted. The two of them were limping over the waters of the Pacific and going around in circles. Xander felt so very tired the word exhaustion didn't even cover it. Not only did his body ache all over, it felt like it could sleep for a week.

Buffy on the other hand looked even worse off. The leg that had been skewered by Cell's tail looked like a dried up mummified husk. One that caused her to bitch and moan a lot about being a cripple for the rest of her life.

Hey, still better being a cripple then the alternative, right?

She needed medical help though, badly. And frankly, so did he.

What the hell had happened to him?

Did he become a Super Saiyan just there? Was he now a member of that select club of the super powerful? Was he now a Saiyan as well?

He had checked his behind to look for renewed tail growth but found nothing.

Thank Aldur for small graces!

Or was he something else instead?

Xander Harris, Super Human!

And why had the First Slayer been in his 'end of life flash before the eyes' movie?

Mysteries a plenty.

Mysteries that needed to be resolved.

But not before they found what they were currently looking for.

Last time Xander had seen Belmovekk he had been left lifeless on a small cushion of chi adrift over the Pacific. And considering the turmoil they had caused with their shenanigans it had probably been overturned and his body fallen into the watery depths.

But Xander Harris was going to be damned before he would abandon the Big Guy's body to the waters of the Pacific. He owed the Summers family at least a chance to say goodbye and bury him.

"We're not giving up till we find him, Buff," Xander said resolutely, "Just hang on for now."

"But what if we don't?" Buffy countered, "what if he did fell into the ocean. He could be gone. Really gone this time."

"I'm not gonna think like that," Xander said as he shook his head, "I'm not even thinking that I'm gonna think like that! For god sakes, he's your father, Buff. At least the one that cared!"

"I know," Buffy replied sullen as she clung on to Xander, "It's just, it hurts so much."

"Well, hang on in there, we'll find him," Xander said determined, "We just have too."

Suddenly a flash happened and Goku appeared in front of them.

"Come, you brave ones," the Saiyan smiled encouragingly as he held out his hand, "I'll take you back to Kami's Lookout. We have senzu beans there."

Xander looked at Buffy, then at Goku and back to Buffy again.

"You go," he said to Buffy, "Let them look after your leg. I'll stay and continue the search."

"But you're exhausted," Buffy objected, "Even on your own you wouldn't last ten minutes."

"Enough time for Goku here to come back with a senzu," Xander said, "And then I can go on for as long as it takes."

"What are you looking for?" Goku asked somewhat puzzled.

"The Big Guy," Xander said, "Belmovekk! His body is out here somewhere. I'm not leaving until I find him."

"You know the Dragonballs are gone, right?" Goku asked, but Xander shook his head.

"I don't care. He died fighting to save us all, he deserves a proper burial."

"I understand," Goku nodded, then he smiled, "Maybe I can help?"

"Not unless you can detect dead people as well," Xander said.

"Maybe he can," Buffy suddenly said, "Remember, you did leave him on a cushion of your chi. Maybe Sniffles here can detect that."

Xander looked to startled to say anything, then he kissed Buffy full on the lips.

"Marry me, Buff," he said deadpan, "I want to have kids with you. That's so utterly brilliant!"

"I do have my moments," Buffy smiled back, then she turned serious, "But you'll have to fight Riley first to win my heart."

"Pff," Xander snorted, "Now that I can go Super I'll have his sorry army ass for breakfast."

Meanwhile Goku had closed his eyes and slowly looked around.

"There," he said pointing to the direction from which they had come, "I detect a faint chi over there."

Buffy and Xander looked to the direction that Goku had pointed to.

"I told you we were going the wrong way, didn't I?" Buffy complained.

"Backseat women drivers," Xander muttered as he shook his head dejected. Then he and Buffy reached out their hands and touched Goku.

And then they were gone.


	23. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter 12**

' **Like Spinning Plates'**

x

x

AN: _No interlude this time because I never planned to do one here, as I split this chapter off from the previous one, for reasons of length._

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 11

x

When Goku returned to the Lookout with Buffy, Xander and Belmovekk's body they were greeted with a heart sobbing wail.

"FATHER!"

Pushing everybody aside Mayan threw herself on Belmovekk's body and began to cry uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, father, I'm so sorry," the girl wailed uncontrollably.

'Well, maybe you should," Buffy muttered softly as she hopped on one leg, "it was your idea that he should go there in the fi…"

"Buffy, please," Xander said shaking his head, "Not now."

"We're all to blame, really," Piccolo said as he put his hand on Buffy's shoulder, "We all made costly mistakes. The last thing we need is tear each other apart. There is plenty of blame to go around."

Then the mighty Namek squeezed encouragingly and smiled at her.

"For what it's worth, thank you both for trying to buy me some time."

"Uh, thanks?" Buffy said uncertain.

Next thing Tien came up to them carrying a pouch which he offered to Buffy and Xander.

"Here, have some," he said, then he smiled, it's a really good vintage."

He was offering them the famous senzu beans.

"You think they can restore my leg?" Buffy said pointing to her shriveled leg.

"They restored my life when I was this close to dying," Tien said deadpan as he held up his fingers only millimeters apart.

"Good point," Buffy said as she put her hand in her pouch and took out a bean. Tien then offered the bag to Xander, who held up his hand and shook no.

"No, thanks," he said, "I just need some rest."

"Rest is a luxury we may not have," Tien insisted.

"No need to throw fortune cookie wisdom at me," Xander said just a little annoyed.

"Then take one because for once we have plenty," Tien said as he held up the pouch again, "Carrin pulled in overtime to grow them."

A little reluctant Xander pulled out a bean and popped it in his mouth. Almost instantly after he had swallowed it he felt his aches and tiredness go away and be ready again to take on the world.

"I guess its not so bad after all," he said smiling as he flexed his muscles.

Next to him Buffy looked a little more hesitantly at her senzu bean. Part of her wanted to take it to heal her injured leg. Another part feared what might happen if she did take it and her leg remained as it was. It was one thing to heal what was injured, but surely restoring that which was dead and damaged beyond repair was beyond this mystical vegetable?

But then she remembered when she had given Xander a senzu bean when Android #13 had beaten him into a pulp. And he had been in a really bad shape. Like really really bad shape. If it could fix him up, why not her?

So she popped it into her mouth and bit into it.

For an instant it seemed like nothing happened and she feared her fears were right after all. That she was going to be a cripple for the rest of her life.

But then something began to tingle in her leg.

Dead nerves began to regenerate themselves, blood began to flow again. And for a moment it caused intense pain like Buffy had never known. But before she could cry out in pain her muscles regenerated themselves again and she had a whole functioning leg again.

A little hesitant she let go of Xander and put her balance on her leg again. And nothing happened! She didn't fall down! She had her leg back again. Out of sheer delight she began to frolic around as she let out little shouts of sheer delights.

"I can walk again!" she said overwhelmed with joy, "I can jump again! And I can fight!"

To illustrate her point her regenerated foot shot out and came to and stopped within an inch of Xander's face.

"Maybe I should take up dancing?" she said deadpan, "I would make for a great dancer, wouldn't I"

"Michael Baryshnikov eat your heart out," Xander echoed, then he gently put his hand on her leg and pushed it aside, "But not in my face please."

"Why?" Buffy smiled impishly, "Do I have foot odor?"

Xander wanted to say something, then he bit his lip.

"There is no good answer to that question, is there?"

Before Buffy could reply Goku came up to Xander.

"Show me," he said dead serious.

"Show you what?" Xander asked.

"Your ability to go Super Saiyan," Goku said, "I noticed that at the end of your fight with Cell your power suddenly exploded."

"That? That was nothing, a fluke, that's what it was," Xander said evasively.

"Xander, you changed into a Super Saiyan," Buffy said, "That's not nothing. Nothing is going to the Bronze and finding you have a tiny piece of spinach between your teeth after talking to a hot guy all evening. You becoming a Super Saiyan is like the exact opposite of nothing."

"Isn't the exact opposite of nothing something?" Tien couldn't help but remark.

"Xander, if you can go Super Saiyan it means you're now stronger then me," Buffy said as she nudged him with her elbow, "You could probably now take over the Slayer business. I thought you always wanted to be the big strong protector, Sunnydale's Batman."

"And put you out of a job, where would my manners be?" Xander said, then his eyes looked downward, "Besides, I gave up wanting to be the strongest long ago. I'm perfectly happy just being your side kick."

"Well, I got news for you, you're no longer Xander, Boy Wonder," Buffy countered, "In fact I think you just put Batman out to pasture and pissed on his grave. Oh, did I say piss? I meant doing a number two on his grave."

"Look, it's not something I'm comfortable with," Xander said evasively, "Ever since that stupid Halloween thing I feel like I'm losing more and more of myself and becoming more and more a Saiyan. And I don't want too. No power is worth losing yourself."

"While I sympathize with your plight, kid," Piccolo said, "but all too often life hands you lemons and then the best you can do is make the most of it. Do you think I liked having to fuse with Kami? I can't stand being with the old coot on the same continent. Let alone being in the same body. But I did what I had to do. And so will you. We need every bit of firepower that we got right now. Now do as the nice but simple Saiyan says and show us what you can do."

"But it hurts," Xander said crestfallen.

"Your into high intensity martial arts," Piccolo said unsympathetic, "Suck it up."

"And they allow you near children?" Buffy said towards Piccolo incredulously. Who just shrugged.

"It happened by accident," Xander said, "I wouldn't even know how to do it again."

"Going Super is easy," Goku said, "It's like powering up once you've done it for the first time. The trick is in actually being able to do it for the first time."

"Sounds a lot like losing virginity," Buffy quipped but no one laughed.

"Just do it," Goku said encouragingly, "don't even think about it, let it happen."

"Just so you all know, I don't like doing this," Xander muttered softly, then he closed his eyes and concentrated on raising his power.

And then it happened again.

Searing pain!

"Oooooh," Xander exclaimed as he almost fell to his knees. Then he opened his eyes and saw everybody look at him in a mixture of shock and awe.

"Please tell me my fly's open?" Xander said.

"I don't believe," Tien exclaimed bewildered, "A human going Super Saiyan? It shouldn't be."

"And yet it is," Piccolo said, amazed but not astonished, "Clearly he can do it."

"I wonder if I can do it as well?" Tien said as he cupped his chin and examined Xander up closely, "Maybe we should redefine it. If a human can do it as well then clearly we shouldn't call it going Super Saiyan but just going Super."

"Maybe you could if you had been subjected to a chaos mage's spell and had some Saiyan DNA to begin with," Piccolo countered.

"Yeah, but think about it," Tien argued, "We don't know how far that DNA goes back in his family. For all we know it goes back thousands of years and everybody has it. Maybe that's why hybrids like Gohan and Trunks are so powerful. Maybe that's why there is something in our DNA that makes it go happy happy joy joy when it meets new Saiyan DNA?"

"And maybe only his grandmother had a fling with a Saiyan," Piccolo said back, "Don't count your blessings until you know them all."

Tien said nothing but he didn't seem particularly impressed by Piccolo's arguments as he muttered something that sounded suspiciously much like it wouldn't hurt to try.

Of course Piccolo's sensitive hearing picked it up every word of it but the mighty Namek had the grace to leave it at that.

Meanwhile Buffy looked concerned at Xander.

"Are you okay?" she asked worried, "You don't look like an okay person. You look like a non-okay person."

"He's not okay," Goku said appraisingly, "His body is straining to cope with his transformation. That's why the color is off."

"Goku's right," Piccolo added, "Whatever Saiyan DNA remains in him that enables him, it seems to be straining."

"Xander, are you alright?" Buffy asked.

"I've been better," Xander nodded as he tried to put on a brave face, as the pain was killing him, "But hey, I've been through a lot worse too, remember?"

"Let's find out," Goku said, then he transformed into Super Saiyan as well and before anybody knew what was going on he slammed his fist into Xander's face. Only to have it blocked by Xander's upper arm.

"Well done," Goku said approvingly, "How about this?"

More blows and kicks followed, all too fast for most to follow. Then the two fighters began to move about using super speed and appeared all over the Lookout, usually after they had blocked the other's attack.

Then they halted on top of a roof as Xander fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry," he said panting, "I have to take a break."

"That's okay," Goku smiled, "I think I have a good idea what you're capable of now."

"So I can stop now?" Xander asked, almost pleading, to which Goku shook his head.

"Just one more thing," he said, then he placed his hand on Xander's forehead and closed his eyes, "Relax!"

Almost immediately Goku's eyes went open in horror and he let go.

"I had no idea," he stammered apologetic, "I'm so sorry. Yeah you can stop now."

"Thank god for small favours," Xander smiled as he dropped out of Super Saiyan.

Almost immediately thereafter he collapsed into Goku's arms.

"XANDER!" Buffy yelled as she jumped towards them.

"I feel a bit dizzy," Xander said softly as he lay there in Goku's arms.

"Xander, are you alright?" Buffy asked worried.

"Just a little rest," Xander said weakly, "Maybe this is not a good time, Buff, but do you think we could still go to that strip club? I could really use a lap dance right now."

"Shh, rest," Buffy smiled, then she looked at Goku, "Will he be alright?"

"He just needs a little rest," Goku nodded.

"You said you were sorry," Buffy asked, "Why were you sorry?"

"I, uh, um," Goku said lost for words, "I would not have pushed him so hard if I knew the full extent of his condition."

"That sounds bad," Buffy said growing worried again, "Bad is bad right? As in not good?"

"We must understand that he's new to this," Goku explained, "And his body is not used to it. Probably shouldn't even be pushed to it. When he goes Super it cries out in pain."

"How much pain?" Buffy asked wearily.

"Like being on fire," Goku said straight faced.

"Xander!" Buffy said as she looked Xander in the eyes, "I absolutely forbid you from using this ever again."

"Wow, all this concern over me, I didn't know we were married," Xander quipped as he smiled weakly, then he looked at Goku, "So doc, what's the verdict? How strong am I now?"

"I'd say a little below to what I was when I became a Super Saiyan on planet Namek," Goku replied.

"Mmmm," Xander said as he mulled it over, "Nothing earth shattering in today's context but it could still be useful."

"Xander!" Buffy said horrified, "You're not seriously considering trying to do this again? Look at you, you're a mess."

"A mess who could still make a difference though," Xander smiled again weakly, then he tried to get up and managed to sit up straight, "I may look bad now, but I'm nowhere as tired as I was the first time. Maybe if I train hard enough the pain will go away as well."

"I think you should try," Goku said encouragingly, "And now that Belmovekk has died I promise that I will take his place as your teacher."

"Does this mean we have to move to China as well?" Buffy asked concerned.

x

* * *

x

Her father was dead!

Funny how you never miss something until you lose it again.

Her father was dead!

Funny how some things could backfire. And backfire badly.

Her father was dead!

Funny how some words that were said in a moment of passion would come back to haunt you.

Her father was dead!

Some things weren't funny at all.

Not the least of which was losing your father all over again after you had sent him to his death.

Part of Mayan noticed that Xander went Super Saiyan, but the bigger part of her didn't care.

Her father was dead!

This man that she had barely known, or taken care to get to know had tried to accept her as his daughter.

And she had spit him in his face for being a coward.

And then she had used a ploy to get him to do what she wanted and it had gotten him killed.

Her father was dead!

And unlike the first time, _this_ time it was her fault.

Cell may have done it. Did the actual killing.

But it was her actions that had sent him there.

And she had let it happen.

At least her sister had tried to save him while she allowed herself to be delayed and delayed.

And now her father was dead!

Suddenly she wished that she had paid more attention when auntie Willow had told them stories of old.

Suddenly she wished that she had accepted his attempts to connect together.

Suddenly she wished that she had respected his wish not to stop Cell. In the end it had all been in vain, right? Android #17 had still been absorbed.

"I'm sorry father," Mayan wept as she gently rocked back and fro beside his lifeless body, "I should not have done it. I should not have forced you. I….., I'm so sorry."

x

* * *

x

A-Day+ 3 years, 2 months, 24 days, somewhere, sometime

x

"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy!"

No sooner had she left the gravity gym when Buffy was suddenly mobbed by her little sister. And even though every muscle in her body ached she bent over and picked the little child.

"Hey little Mayo," Buffy smiled at her sister, "Are you still up? Why aren't you in bed?"

"Trunks was naughty to me," Mayan pouted, "he's making poo poo noises in bed."

Great! She knew that Xander and his fart jokes were setting a bad example to the kids.

"You wanna sleep with me?" Buffy asked, to which Mayan eagerly nodded.

"Jay!" Mayan said triumphantly, "Mayonnaise and Ketchup! Mayonnaise and Ketchup!"

Another little gem she had to thank Xander for, those stupid nicknames! And off course Mayan loved them.

"Yup, Ketchup and Mayo," Buffy sighed. Oh Xander was going to get it again tomorrow.

Taking Mayan to her bedroom she put her little sister on the bed. Then she fell backwards on the bed.

"I'm too tired to even take a shower, Mayo," Buffy sighed, then she looked at Mayan, winked one of her eyes and smiled, "But that's our little secret, right, Mayo?"

"Mayonnaise and Ketchup!" Mayan giggled.

"Ketchup and Mayo," Buffy echoed, then she briefly closed her eyes, "Oh, I could sleep forever."

"Buffy?" Mayan suddenly asked.

"Yeah?" Buffy asked as she opened her eyes again.

"Could you tell me a story?," Mayan asked, much to Buffy's horror. Cause story telling meant less sleep for her.

"Alright," she said resigning to her fate, "What kind of story do you wanna hear?"

"Tell me about daddy," Mayan asked, causing Buffy to look at her little sister again.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked, "It's not a happy story. Don't you want to hear a happy story before bedtime? Like when Ketchup defeated the big strong Mayor?"

"But you told me that one dozens," Mayan protested, "I wanna know about Daddy."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Because Trunks made fun of my tail-tail again," Mayan pouted, "says that daddy was a monkey and not a specimen like his."

Sigh!

"Trunks is made from poo-poo," Buffy said frowning, then she put her arm around her sister, "You know that both Trunks' daddy and Gohan's daddy came from outer space, right?"

"Specimen!" Mayan giggled.

"Yes, space men," Buffy echoed, "Well, your daddy was also a space men. And you wanna hear a secret?"

Mayan nodded eagerly.

"Trunks and Gohan also had tail-tails."

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 4 years, 8 months, 4 days, somewhere, sometime

"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy!"

Willow looked up from the reports that she was reading and saw that somehow Mayan had managed to sneak back into Buffy's room.

Having climbed up on Buffy's hospital bed the child now sat on her knees prodding Buffy trying to get her big sister's attention.

It was heart breaking.

"Mayonnaise and Ketchup?" Mayan asked in a sad tone of voice as she awaited her sister's customary greet back.

But there came none as Buffy just blankly stared ahead.

Putting away her reports Willow stood up from her bedside chair and went to Mayan.

"Mayan honey," Willow said as she reached out and picked up Mayan, "come here with Auntie Willow."

Mayan looked so sad it broke Willow's heart.

And at the same time it gave her the resolve to do what she had to do. Those androids were going to pay for their crimes.

"Why does Buffy not talk to me anymore?" Mayan asked.

"We talked about that, Mayo," Willow said calmly, "Your sister is sick. Very sick."

"Don't call me Mayo," Mayan said as she shook her little head, "Only Buffy gets to call me Mayonnaise."

"Well, I could be Ketchup?" Willow said as smiled, "I have red hair you know."

"It's not the same," Mayan said without cheer.

"Well, maybe we could come up with new names," Willow suggested, "Would you like that?"

"Maybe," Mayan said softly, then she put her head on Willow's shoulder, "When does Buffy get better?"

What was she going to say to the child? Never? Your sister is physically and emotionally crippled and now probably lives in a fantasy world of her own creation?

"I don't know, honey," Willow said lost for words, "I don't know."

She half expected Mayan to start crying, but the little girl didn't. She just clung to her in silence, which made Willow wish she'd cry. Crying was good. Silence leads to brooding. Brooding leads to the Dark Side. Where Angel resides.

Maybe it was better if she cried. But in the absence of crying it was even better to prevent her from getting into the brooding habit.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?" she asked the child.

"I suppose," Mayan said sullen.

"Well, what kind of story?" Willow asked, "Do you want to hear a nice fairy tale? Or maybe a movie story? I know lots of movie stories."

"Tell me about my father," Mayan said.

Okay. Not the kind of request she had expected. But here goes.

"Okay," Willow said, "Well, have you ever heard of the story how your father met your sister? Well, once upon a time there was a place called Sunnydale. And lots of bad and wicked things lived there. And they hurt a lot of people, especially at night. But then one day one girl and her mama came to that place. And her name was….."

x

* * *

x

A-Day+12 years, 10 months, 14 days, somewhere, sometime

x

"Well, that was interesting."

"It sure was," Trunks said satisfied as he lay on his stomach on the bed. Mayan lay next to him.

And she was naked!

And they had just done it!

Inwardly he was doing the happy dance.

Outwardly he was trying to act cool.

As cool as any teenager can be lying naked on a bed after just having had sex for the first time.

The good thing at least was that it didn't even feel awkward or clumsy. In fact it all went quite natural.

And exhausting. Boy, did he feel tired right now.

Suddenly Trunks felt fingers tracing their way across his back.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fingerwalkin'," Mayan said, "Mr. Hand is walking down your back and…., well well, what do we have here? It's Mr. Tail Tail. Hello Mr. Tail Tail, you seem to be a little cut short? Did you have an accident?"

"You keep on making fun of it," Trunks said without looking over his shoulder, "At least I can go out on a full moon."

"Do too!" Mayan protested, but Trunks let out a loud snort.

"Only if you wish to 'take out the monkey'," he snorted. He immediately regretted making the remark. He knew that she was conscious about getting teased about her tail.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said apologetic as he got up and turned around, "It's a beautiful tail and I'm sure your father had….."

She had already turned her back to him and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Look, I said I was sorry," Trunks said as he tried to put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Mayan said as she got up and began looking for her panties.

"I said I was sorry," Trunks said forlorn, "I know I shouldn't have made fun of your tail. It's a beautiful tail! Sometimes I wish I still…."

"You're such an idiot, Trunks," Mayan said as she put on her panties and then put on a shirt, "You just don't know…."

"Are you crying?" Trunks asked, "I can see tears on you…."

Picking up her trousers Mayan stomped to the door. Before opening she stopped and turned around.

"I have nothing, Trunks, I have nothing in this world. My family is dead, my sister a vegetable, my home destroyed, I live in your mother's house for god sakes. And I don't even have a single photograph of what my life was like before these stupid androids came along. The only thing I have left to remind me of who I used to be, who my father was and what my life could have been is my tail!"

And then she stormed out of his room leaving a naked Trunks behind.

"I….., but…..," Trunks stammered, then he waved dismissively towards the door and fell back on his bed, "Great, I think I've just had sex with my mom."

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 11

x

Her father was dead!

The man she had hardly known, feigned not to care about against everybody, including the one person she trusted above all in her life, was dead.

And she had sent him to his death!

As grief reached a fever pitch inside her somebody put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" somebody asked.

Which was the wrong question to ask her at that point.

But at that point probably any question was the wrong one to ask.

"NO I'M NOT ALRIGHT!" Mayan yelled as her grief now suddenly had to vent against.

It just so happened to be her sister, Buffy.

"I am not alright!" Mayan drove on, "I am fed up with this place! Nothing makes sense here. The androids aren't the enemy, other androids are, now there's Cell. Oh Mayan, here's a whole lot of people you didn't know, they're your family. Well guess what, sister dearest, I was doing perfectly fine on my own. I don't need you, or your whacked up family and your friends. I can't wait till this is over and I can go back to my time, where things do make sense and….."

She suddenly stopped and looked away, seeing her dead father again.

As she did a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Not again," she said softly as her anger left her, "not again. When does it end?"

She dropped to her knees beside Belmovekk's dead body and began to cry again over his body.

"What did I do?" Buffy asked the others flabbergasted.

"Nothing," Piccolo said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging squeeze, "She was probably way too close to breaking down to begin with. And seeing people who had died long ago die again was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back."

"Straw can do that to camels?" Buffy asked and it was only his time with Faith that stopped Piccolo from facepalming himself.

"Poor girl," Tien said mournfully.

"I don't think I helped much either," Goku added.

"Maybe we should give her some….," Xander tried to say when suddenly he noticed something, "Why is this place suddenly swaying?"

"What do you mean?" Tien said surprised, "The Lookout's rock solid. It doesn't even get phased when a tornado pa…."

"I notice it too," Goku said as he looked at his feet, then the Lookout.

"Something's making the Lookout sway," Piccolo said as he looked around.

"Crap, now I feel it too," Tien said, then he looked over the clouds to some undetermined point on the horizon, "Is it Cell? Could he be coming?"

Before he got a reply dirt began to rise into the air around them.

"That's not Cell," Piccolo said, then he turned around and pointed towards Mayan, "It's her!"

"No way," Buffy said as everybody turned towards her grieving sister, draped over Belmovekk's dead body, "Mayan what are you…."

Before she could finish her sentence Mayan looked up, eyes pouring with tears that were literally streaming down her face.

But her eyes had changed.

From black to a cold green.

"Another one?" Tien exclaimed in both shock and disbelief, "What is this? Super Saiyan Saturday?"

"I have lost my father," Mayan said heartbroken, "Again! I have lost my father."

"Didn't you have to be pure good or pure evil?" Tien asked Piccolo.

"She is pure," Piccolo said calmly, "Pure grief."

Then Mayan looked up to the heavens and yelled.

"FATHER!"

And as she did a shockwave of pure gold energy erupted from her, blowing everybody to the ground and blasting across the Lookout and the skies beyond.

Mayan's hair began to blow in the wind, and then it stood up straight, her color changed from black to pure gold, as waves of unseen energies undulated from her.

Noticing that she had changed Mayan looked at herself, then she balled her fists.

"What has happened to m….., oh," Mayan said as she realized she had just left planetary orbit and was now able to explore the final frontier.

"Mayan, you're a Super Saiyan," Buffy exclaimed.

"I know," Mayan said, her grief gone, but replaced by something else, a sense of wonder. And then she balled her fists and began to smirk.

"This power, it courses through my veins, it's….," she said, then she looked towards the west, "I will avenge you father. I will bring you Cell's head."

"Barely a Super Saiyan and already it's gone to her head," Tien frowned.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Goku said as he stepped in and positioned himself between Mayan and the edge of the Lookout.

"I don't think you had single good idea since I came here," Mayan said as she stood up, "Are we going to play that game again? Last time you had the advantage, now I have."

"You have no idea how far you still have to go," Goku said calmly.

"I'll show you," Mayan said, then she raised her power. As she did the Lookout began to tremble and strong gusts of wind began to blow."

"Impressed?" she asked smirking.

"It's okay," Goku shrugged, "Although I saw Freeza do better on planet Namek.

"ENOUGH!" Mayan yelled, "You want more? I'll give you more!"

And more she did as both the vibrations of the Lookout increased, the strength of the winds blowing. And the damage on the Lookout as lamps and windows began to shatter all over the place. Then lightning bolts began to flash, some of them even hitting the Lookout.

"Get out of my way, Goku," Mayan said threatening, "Get out or I'll move right thro…"

"UUUUUuuuuuugh!"

Suddenly, like it was Night of the Living Dead, Belmovekk's body stirred and began to gasp for air.

"What the….?" Tien exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Piccolo said.

"Don't just stand there looking cryptic, do something!" Buffy yelled as she dove towards Belmovekk's side, soon joined by Xander and Mayan.

"How? He was dead, wasn't he?" Mayan asked concerned as her chi flames died down.

"How the hell should I know?" Buffy said, "Maybe it was your crazy pyrotechnics that jumpstarted his heart again?"

"His heart is beating though," Xander said as he put his head to Belmovekk's heaving chest, "Hold him down before he does any damage to himself."

Upon which Buffy and Mayan took hold of the Saiyan's flaying arms and legs.

"There is no way he could live," Piccolo said as he hunched next to them, "There should be massive brain damage."

"Well, d'uh!" Buffy said, "Why do you think we're restraining him, then she looked at Tien, "Quick, give me a senzu bean."

"You think it could restore such massive brain damage?" Tien said as he fished in his pouch and gave Buffy a bean.

"It fixed Piccolo's hole in his chest, my leg and your case of almost certain death, it's worth a shot," Buffy said as took the bean.

"Look at him," Tien said at the flailing Saiyan, "He's acting on pure instinct. He's not going to swallow anything."

"We have ways to make him do what we want," Buffy smiled confidently, then she nodded her head towards Belmovekk, "Could you take over from me?"

As Tien switched places with Buffy she positioned herself at the Saiyan's head. He was really acting all primordial now, not a glimmer of intelligence left in his eyes. It was only because he had just returned from the dead that he hadn't thrown off Xander and Tien holding him, and probably soon only Goku, Piccolo and Mayan might be able to contain him. She had to be fast.

She put the bean in her mouth and chewed it until it was a fine paste mixed with her saliva. She then grabbed hold of his head and closed his nostrils. As his mouth opened to breathe she leaned over and kissed him on the lips, letting the Senzu paste dribble in his mouth. Then she disengaged and put her hand on his mouth so he couldn't spit it out.

"Please, Belmo" she said gently, "If you are still in there, these are your daughters calling, it's me, Buffy, and Mayan, please, for us, please swallow."

For a moment nothing happened.

Then, and to her dying days Buffy would prefer to remember that it was her words that got to him and not just a swallowing reflex in order to breathe, Belmovekk swallowed and his body stiffened.

Then it relaxed and Belmovekk's eyes looked at Buffy, then at Mayan, still in Super Saiyan transformation, and then at everybody else.

"Welcome back," Buffy smiled, then she let herself fall on her behind and began to cry uncontrollably with relief.

x

* * *

x

Belmovekk's return from the dead was greeted with a mixture of both relief and restrained astonishment.

"All hail the new Lazarus," Tien had quipped.

"Hey, no main character can be taken serious in science fiction unless he, or she, returns from the dead at least once," Xander said.

"Pff, it's only his first time," Tien grinned back, "Let him call back if he does so a second time."

"So what did you see?" Goku asked his fellow Saiyan, "Did you meet Kaio Sama?"

"I am not sure," Belmovekk said uncertain, then he stared into the distance, "It all feels so, for lack of a better world, surreal now?"

"You know better then to use complicated words in front of Goku," Piccolo said with a big grin on his face, "It confuses him."

"What does complicated mean?" Goku said laughing, causing everybody to laugh and release a lot of the tension that had built up over the past events.

Next thing Mayan, who had detransformed, threw her arms around Belmovekk's waist and started to cry again.

"I'm sorry father," she cried, "I'm so sorry for everything."

A little hesitant at first, Belmovekk then put his arms around her as well.

"What is there to apologize for?" he said calmly.

"I forced you to fight Cell when you shouldn't," she cried, "I was wrong."

Before he could reply Goku spoke up.

"You should be proud of your daughter," Goku said approvingly, "She gave me seven kinds of hell trying to come your aid. She has great heart and spirit."

"And not to mention she's now a Super Saiyan as well," Piccolo added casually.

Belmovekk briefly gave Goku a nod, then he broke Mayan's embrace, squatting down and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Mayan," he said, again calmly, as he looked into her eyes, "You did what you had to do. And frankly I needed that kick in my butt."

"But I was terri…,"

"Ssssh," Belmovekk said, "You are who you are because of where you are from. And I wish I could have been there for you. But I was not. Do not be hard on yourself for surviving. There is no future there, I know. So, my daughter, whatever you did, whatever you had to do to survive, I forgive you."

"But father…," Mayan tried to protest but Belmovekk silenced her and put his finger on her lips.

"No buts, Mayan," he said shaking his head, "I forgive you."

He then drew her into his embrace where she continued to cry.

"Come, let's give them some space," Goku said and walked away.

"But I can hear them throughout the Lookout," Piccolo protested, then he shrugged and followed suit, as did the others.

"Willow told me the girl had issues," Buffy said to Xander as they walked away, "But if I had known she'd needed industrial strength therapy I would have brought Dr. Phil along."

"It's to be expected," Xander said, briefly glancing over his shoulder, "She's like Buffy, the other one, remember?"

"How could I forget!" Buffy set letting out a very polite snort.

"They're both damaged goods from being alone on the front line to long," Xander explained.

"I don't know," Tien said, "Everybody seems to have an excuse these days. What happened to just being plain crazy?"

As they were walking they were suddenly greeted by the Lookout's caretaker, Mr. Popo running excited towards them.

'Hurry," he said, "Vegeta and Trunks have come out of the room!"

x

* * *

x

"She's coming around," a voice said.

As she came around her vision was still blurred but her innards still felt like they were mush.

"I could so use a cigarette right now," Faith moaned as she tried to make sense of her world again. Then her vision returned to normal and she saw Android #18 hanging over her.

"She doesn't look alright," Android #18 said, sounding more uninterested then concerned.

"She's no ordinary human," another voice said to her left, "she will be fine in a moment."

"If you say so, #16," Android #18 said, then she turned around and went to sit with her back against a tree.

"Where am I?" Faith asked as she put a hand on her stomach.

"Does it matter?" Android #18 replied curt, "Be glad we took you with us when we fled from Cell."

Faith looked around and saw only Android #16. The big android had sustained massive damage to his face and looked anything but okay. And yet he gave her an encouraging smile.

"Where's Piccolo," Faith asked concerned. To which Android #18 said nothing and Android #16 shrugged.

"I have no idea," he said, "Cell probably killed him. Together with Tien Shin Han."

"WHAT?" Faith exclaimed, then she tried to get up, only to fall back in pain as she clinched her stomach, "Fuck!"

"You're obviously not yet capable of helping your friends," #16 said, "Better you should stay."

"Because I'm your prisoner?" Faith bit back.

"Puhlease, you're free to go anytime you'd like," Android #18 snorted, "In fact the sooner the better."

"Don't worry, I will," Faith sneered at the female android, "I'm going to save my friends. Do you robots even understand the concept of friendship?"

For a brief moment the two androids glanced at each other and Faith swore they had a moment together.

"Why did you want me to bring her along?" #18 said, looking at #16.

"Because otherwise she would have died," Android #16 stated calmly.

Faith looked at the two androids, then she tried again to got up.

"Screw this picnic, I'm gonna save my friends."

"They're dead," Android #16 stated matter of fact, "And if you go back you'll run straight into Cell."

"Better to die then to hide out he….," Faith exploded, then she stopped as she saw a huge ass volcano behind her, "We're on Hawaii?"

"It was the only place we could reach with #16 in his present condition," Android #18 said surly.

"Why not move on alone?" Faith asked, causing Android #18 to give her a really dirty look.

"Do you humans even understand the concept of friendship?" she retorted.

"Okay, so you robots _do_ know about friendship," Faith said, "Where's the other one?"

Before Android #18 could reply, #16 did so for her.

"Cell absorbed him," he stated wistfully, "I was unable to stop him."

"Cell absorbed my brother," #18 said sadly, then she looked away.

"Oh," Faith said, suddenly feeling very much like a heel.

x

* * *

x

"TRUNKS!"

Yelping loudly Mayan jumped onto Trunks as he and Vegeta emerged from the Room of Spirit and Time. As she kissed him full on the lips he eagerly reciprocated.

"I missed you so much," she said as she burrowed her face on his shoulder, only to look at his face again, "Have you grown?"

While Vegeta looked just like he did before going inside the Room of Spirit and Time, only showing some wear and tear in his Saiyan battle armor. Trunks on the other hand not only had hair long enough to drape his shoulders, all tied in a pony tail that was a crime against fashion, the teen had also grown considerably in length as well.

"I did, didn't I," Trunks nodded enthusiastically, then his face turned serious as he picked up her head and looked her in the eyes, "Have you been crying?"

"I missed you," Mayan said evasive as she burrowed her face on his shoulder again, "Terrible things have happened while you were gone. And I don't want to talk about it."

"But…."

"No talking about the no talking, remember?" Mayan said.

"I, uh," Trunks said unsure, then he put one arm around Mayan and looked at the others, "Sorry to keep you waiting?"

"We've, uh, been expecting you," Goku said as he headed the welcoming party.

"After two months Vegeta finally surpassed Super Saiyan," Trunks continued, "But it wasn't until now that he became proficient at using it."

"Trunks, don't waste words on them," Vegeta said chiding.

Then to everyone's surprise Trunks actually heeded Vegeta's words and shut up.

"So did it work?" Goku asked Vegeta excited, upon which Vegeta began to smirk.

"You'll see," he smirked, then his smirk even got worse, "I wouldn't bother going in there if I were you."

"Bad body odor?" somebody sniggered, probably Xander.

"No you twit," Vegeta said annoyed, then his smirk returned, "Because I will finish off both Cell and the androids."

"Are you sure?" Goku asked surprised, "Cause I checked that thing after he sucked in Android #17 and he's off the scale."

Vegeta didn't reply, he just continued to smirk.

"Oh, something else's also off the scale," Xander sniggered again in the back.

"Oh my God!" Trunks suddenly exclaimed, "Mayan, what happened to your tail?

"I, uh, um," Mayan stammered.

"Fool," Vegeta growled and pointed a finger upward, "Don't you think it might have something to do with that powerball up in the sky?"

Trunks looked up, saw a small artificial full moon shining high in the air, then he gave Mayan a stern look.

"What the hell happened here?" he said. Upon which Mayan began to grin sheepishly.

"I can turn Super Saiyan now?"

x

x

Next thing Goku filled Trunks and Vegeta in as to what happened since they were gone.

"You're a fool Kakarot," Vegeta said after Goku was finished, "You should never have let things get out of control this much. You should have just let Cell take the androids. Like I said before, less targets for us to worry about."

"You're a fool if you think you could take on perfect Cell, Vegeta," Piccolo countered, "I fought him before he absorbed #17 and he was already too strong. Goku reckons absorbing him doubled his strength."

"Good thing I'm not you then," Vegeta smirked, causing Piccolo's eyes to flash angry and nostrils to flare. Then Piccolo turned his back to Vegeta.

"It's like talking to a goddamn brick," he muttered exasperated.

Then a new voice spoke.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

As everybody turned around they saw a small personal jet standing on the Lookout.

One carrying the Capsule Corp. logo.

"It's Bulma," Gohan said.

As the group made for the jet they found Bulma walking around the Lookout.

"Ah, there you guys are," she said as she noticed them all come towards her, "I heard you guys were all up here so I thought I'd pay you a visit."

Then she noticed Trunks. Or more to the point his new haircut.

"What the heck Trunks, is that you?" she said as she walked over concerned and began to touch his hair, "Why'd you change your hair? Is that a wig? Oh, and you've grown taller too."

"There's a mystical room here where a whole year passes in one day," Trunks explained excitedly, "Father and I were training there!"

"Oh, really" Bulma said surprised, then she looked at Vegeta, "Then why hasn't your hair changed?"

"A pure Saiyan's hair, once he reaches full maturity, doesn't grow any further," Vegeta explained.

"Oh, go figure," Bulma said as both she and a lot of others began to scratch the back of their heads.

"So that's why you never need a haircut," Buffy said looking at Belmovekk, "Must be boring to always have the same hair."

"You deal the cards you are dealt with in life, young lady," the Saiyan shrugged.

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta yelled annoyed, "We shouldn't be standing here talking about things that don't matter! Why are you here?"

"And here I was doing you a favor," Bulma said disappointed, "I was bringing you the battle armour you asked for. And since it worked out so well I made enough for everybody."

"New clothes?" Buffy said excited, causing Xander to facepalm himself.

"Where is it?" Tien asked as he walked towards her jet, "You want me to get it for you, Bulma?"

"Oh, thanks but no thanks," Bulma smiled smug as instead she pulled forth a small capsule, clicked on it and threw it onto the ground, where it expanded in a loud poof into a large crate.

"What the hell?" Tien said as he wearily examined the crate. Trunks looked also surprised.

"That's our capsule tech from the future," he said, "you invented this to help keep trade going. How did you…."

"You were careless, Trunks," Bulma smiled as she patted him on the cheeks, "You left a fridge behind three years ago. The army found it, took it home, and then gave it to me to play with. Once I'm going to patent this Capsule Corp. will become bigger then Microsoft!"

"I could say that you're a dumbass, Trunks, causing irrevocable damage to the timeline," Mayan said, "but luckily we're in an alternate timeline so it doesn't really matter."

As the Z-fighters began to rummage in the crate they found the same kind of protective clothing that Vegeta was wearing.

"Uh," Buffy said as she held up what looked like a blue spandex catsuit, "I'm not sure if blue's my color in spandex. I'm not sure if blue is my kind of color at all."

"I have not worn something like this for like 4000 years," Belmovekk said as he held up his set of armor, "I wonder if I should."

"What's the problem, Big Guy," Xander grinned, "afraid it won't fit any more?"

Meanwhile Buffy held up her white chest piece.

"How am I even going to fit into this," she wondered, "this isn't even a size zero. It's a size minus."

"Oh, that's easy," Gohan said as he pulled on his chest piece and demonstrated its almost rubber like stretching ability, "See? It fits to anything."

"It's also lighter then I thought it would," Goku said as he examined his.

"I wore one on Namek," Gohan said as he sat down and put on his boots, "It's like meeting an old friend. "

The only ones not busy getting dressed were Piccolo and Tien.

"Aren't you going to wear one," Bulma asked Piccolo, who just radiated disapproval.

"I don't think I could stomach wearing the same clothes as the Saiyans or Freeza's men," Piccolo all but snorted.

"Suit yourself," Bulma shrugged, then she laughed, "Nice pun, huh?"

"You shouldn't be so picky," Goku said after he had put on his chest piece, "It's easier to move in then it looks."

"Not to mention it will offer a 15% chance of reducing critical injuries if memory serves me right," Belmovekk said, then he looked at Buffy who was still hesitant, "And you _will_ put it on, young lady. That goes for the both of you!"

"I finally get to see you in spandex, Buff," Xander grinned at Buffy as she struggled with the suit.

"Must be a dream come true for you then?" Buffy said back, "Only took you how many years to see it?"

"Better late then never," Xander said.

"It doesn't matter," Vegeta smirked as he put on his final glove, "Neither of you will get the chance to use it."

"Because you're going to beat Cell yourself?" Goku said, then he grinned, "That would be the ideal situation."

Vegeta glared at Goku, like he didn't believe a word his fellow Saiyan was saying.

"So are you going as well?" he finally asked.

"I will teleport you there," Goku offered, "or if you don't like my help, go with Belmovekk."

"Don't be an idiot, Kakarot," Vegeta said as he turned his back toward his fellow Saiyans, "I have no need for either of you two's strengths."

And then the Saiyan Prince took off in a magnificent blaze of his own chi, flying away at astonishing speed.

And he hadn't even transformed yet!

"Won't that man accept anyone's help?" Bulma sighed as she slowly shook her head.

"Auw, watch were you're going!" Xander suddenly said as he stepped aside to make room for something unseen.

"What's wrong with you?" Buffy asked.

"I think Vegeta's ego only just now went passed by me," Xander said pretending to be hurt, causing everybody to laugh.

"Well, I'll be going too," Trunks said after everybody had a good laugh.

"Be careful, Trunks," Mayan said as she hugged and kissed him.

"I will be, my love," Trunks smiled back at her. He then disengaged and made for the Lookout's edge.

"Hold on," Goku said as he went to Tien and reached into the pouch of senzu beans, then went up to Trunks, "Here, take a few with them."

"Thanks," Trunks said as he put them behind his chest plate armor.

"Do your best, but don't do anything stupid, right?" Goku insisted, "It's okay to run away."

"Thanks for everything," Trunks smiled back, "And good luck with your own training."

Then Trunks waved goodbye and jumped over the edge, only to disappear in a trail of white chi.

"Whatever you do, don't die," Bulma called after her son, "Okay?"

"Hey, that's my line," Buffy protested.


	24. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter 13**

' **Idioteque'**

x

x

AN: _And the chapter just keeps on splitting off. So again no interlude. Just more chapter for you lucky sods!_

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 11

x

On the Hawaiian islands things had gone relatively as normal. No suicide bombers had struck here during Al-Qa'ida's offensive. Nor had the islands been hit by Cell's rampage along the Pacific Rim.

That had all changed as unseen powers of immense magnitude had fought to the southwest of the islands and caused freak weather to hit the islands. For a while even a tsunami alert was given. But then withdrawn as no incoming tsunami was detected. So all things considered ordinary Hawaiians returned to business as usual.

This was about to change.

Hanging high above the islands Cell floated in the air.

He had been trying to spot the androids from up high but so far without any success.

"They can't have gotten that far," Cell said to himself as he thought aloud, "And these are the only islands in range where they could be. They must be hiding down there somewhere."

For a moment Cell contemplated what strategy to follow, then he began to smirk.

"If they want to hide down there, that's fine with me," Cell smirked aloud.

Next thing Cell gathered in some energy, then he sucked in more air and began to yell.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME #18? SHOW YOURSELF! IF YOU DON'T I WILL DESTROY THESE ISLANDS ONE BY ONE!"

All over the Hawaiian islands people stopped and looked to the skies, as all over the Hawaiian islands Cell's voice could be heard. So loud in fact some even had to cover up their ears.

"What the hell was that?" one Hawaiian said as he uncovered his ears.

"I think it came from the skies," another said.

Then the loud voice spoke again.

"YOU'RE PROBABLY THINKING I WON'T KILL YOU BECAUSE I WANT TO REACH MY ULTIMATE FORM," the voice boomed, "BUT YOU'RE WRONG. I'D LIKE TO GET IT BUT EVEN AS I AM NOW NO ONE CAN STAND AGAINST ME!"

x

* * *

x

On their hide out near the slopes of Mauna Loa the androids and Faith looked towards Cell's position high in the sky.

"Asshole," Android #18 said in impotent anger.

"Don't worry, #18," Android #16 said, "He won't destroy you. He wants his ultimate form more then you can imagine."

"Screw you two," Faith said angry, "There's more then a million people on these islands, and he's going to kill them all!"

"Then what do you want us to do?" Android #16 replied calmly, "Surrender? Let Cell become perfect? You know he will destroy the entire world anyway if he does, right?"

"I know," Faith as she looked up to the skies again, "But there has to be something we can do."

"Well, we're open to suggestions," Android #18 said snide, "That is, if you have any."

x

* * *

x

In the SGC command room Tech-Sergeant Walters spoke up.

"Sir, Pearl Harbour is reporting sightings of Cell hanging overhead the islands. He's threatening to blow up the islands if someone called #18 doesn't show itself.

The Hawaiian Air National Guard is scrambling F-15's from Hickam and the Marines are scrambling F/A-18's from Kaneohe Bay."

"If it's Cell it won't be enough," Sam said, speaking what everyone was thinking.

"He must have chased the androids to Hawaii," O'Neill said, "That means our so-called friends have failed."

"But why only ask for Android #18?" Daniel remarked, "Why not Android #17 as well? Maybe they were successful in destroying one of the androids?"

"Or maybe he absorbed the other one?" O'Neill countered, "Either way nothing short of full scale nuclear war is going to stop Cell from attacking Hawaii. We need to come up with something to stop Cell short of a full scale nuclear strike."

"The Enterprise is still several hours away," General Hammond said, "she won't make it back in time."

"Then maybe the time has come to launch Prometheus?" O'Neill suggested.

"Prometheus is not yet fully operational, sir," Major Carter interjected.

"Better something then nothing," O'Neill said as he looked around the room.

"Alright," General Hammond said and looked at Walters, "Tell the Joint Chiefs I recommend that Prometheus be activated and used against Cell."

"Yes sir!" Walters said and reached for a telephone.

"And what are we going to do?" Daniel asked.

"I'm going to make some phone calls, son," Hammond said as he pulled out his cell phone, "Maybe Belmovekk may no longer answer his, but there has to be someone in that group who still has one. Or knows somebody who does."

x

* * *

x

"COME OUT! SHOW YOURSELF!"

After he had screamed those words Cell took stock of the situation.

"Damn her," he said angry, "She's not coming out. She's going to make this hard for me, stupid bitch."

Now, where to start, Cell thought as he looked at the various islands of the Hawaiian chain that he could see.

"Why not that one?" he said and aimed for the one furthest to the left.

DOOM!

x

* * *

x

In the SGC control room Tech-Sergeant Walters looked ashen faced as he stared straight ahead blankly.

"What's the matter?" O'Neill asked as he leaned over the tech-sergeant's shoulder.

"Cell's begun attacking the islands, sir," the tech-sergeant said, "Pearl just reported the detonation of what they think is a huge nuclear bomb on Necker Island."

"And so it begins," Teal'c said stoically.

x

* * *

x

From his high vantage point over the Hawaiian islands Cell watched the mushroom cloud grow over Necker Island. All the while he kept a close eye on the other islands in case the androids tried to give him the slip.

"Well, I guess she wasn't on that one," he mused out loud, then he began to yell again, "I WILL KEEP THIS UP UNTIL YOU COME OUT! STILL WANT TO PLAY HIDE AND SEEK WITH ME? YOU'LL JUST WIND UP GETTING DESTROYED WITH THE ISLAND YOU'RE ON!"

"At least now she knows that I'm serious," Cell said afterwards.

But again there was no sign of Android #18.

"Fine, have it your way," Cell muttered and took aim at the next island.

But before he could fire something ricocheted off his carapace.

"What the…?" Cell said and looked around, only to see a jet fighter whiz by. Then an explosion happened just a few feet from him, showering him with shrapnel and debris, all bouncing off harmless his chitin skin.

"Bothersome pests!" Cell said as he expressed his displeasure at being interrupted, "Don't they have terrorists to kill?"

And worse was to come as he saw more jets take off below him.

"Oh no you don't!" Cell said, then he held up his lower arm and held up two fingers.

Next thing everything flying over the Hawaiian islands blew up. And not just jet fighters scrambling to attack Cell, also at least a dozen civilian aircraft and passenger liners trying to get away also blew up.

"Now, where were we?" Cell said.

x

* * *

x

"Oh my God!" Faith said as she a light brighter then a thousand suns burn to the north-east, then die down again, then she jumped out of the tree she had watching from and landed next to Android #16, "He blew up another island."

"What are we going to do, #16?" Android #18 asked, starting to sound desperate.

"What we should be doing is getting the hell out of here," Faith said, "Get out before he kills us."

"He would see us leave and stop us in seconds," Android #16 said to Faith.

"As opposed to finding us and killing us the slow way?" Faith said gesturing around her, "We're fucked either way unless we do something!"

"It's not like we have a whole lot of options, now do we?" Android #18 exploded against Faith.

"Oh, can it, Blondie," Faith growled as she turned her back towards Android #18.

Stupid androids! Stupid blonde bimbo bot! Why did she…..

Slowly Faith turned around and began to grin.

"Say, fellas, do you happen to know where the nearest town is?"

x

* * *

x

"Good God!" Piccolo exclaimed on the Lookout, "He just blew up another island."

They had gathered around Bulma's jet as it had a small TV that allowed them to watch the news.

"Hurry, Vegeta, please hurry," Bulma said as she sat in the cockpit looking all downcast.

"Maybe I should use my instant transmission, go to Vegeta and offer to take him there," Belmovekk suggested.

"It wouldn't do you no good," Bulma said as she shook her head dejected, "He's too stubborn to accept your help."

"Bulma's right," Piccolo echoed, "You stepping in would probably only slow Vegeta down, not speed him up. For good or ill we're in his hands now."

Next thing the phone on board the jet rang.

To the ringtone of Aqua's Barbigirl.

"You get reception up here?" Buffy asked impressed, "Who's your provider?"

"It's a sat phone," Bulma said, then she went inside and picked up the phone, "Bulma here?... Yes…. You're who?...What?...Yeah, he's here."

Bulma came out and held out the phone to Belmovekk.

"It's for you."

x

* * *

x

As General Hammond re-entered the Command and Control room he found Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c waiting for him.

"More bad news, sir," O'Neill said, "That maniac just blew up another island, Nihi-something."

"Ni'ihau, O'Neill," Teal'c corrected.

"Whatever," O'Neill said, then he looked oddly at Teal'c, "How come you can pronounce those stupid names better then me?"

To which Teal'c just smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Any casualties so far?" General Hammond asked.

"Well, the first two islands were uninhabited," O'Neill said, "Although there might have been a University of Hawaii biology mission on Necker Island, we're not sure. But Nihi…., the last one was inhabited, the US Census says there were 160 people living there. And the next one in line…."

"O'Neill looked at Teal'c.

"Kaua'I, O'Neill," Teal'c smiled.

"That one," O'Neill said as he glared suspiciously at Teal'c, "There are almost 60.000 people living there. And the next one in line after that is Pearl it self."

"I see," Hammond sighed, "What's the ETA on Prometheus and Enterprise?"

"Enterprise is still inbound at 59 minutes," O'Neill said, "Pendergast thinks he can have the Prometheus ready to launch in ten minutes."

Hammond stopped, then he looked away for a moment.

"We're not going to make it in time, are we?" he said.

"Not unless you got through to our 'Friends', sir," O'Neill asked, "Did you get through to our friends, sir?"

"I did," Hammond said, sounding like he didn't much liked what he had heard. Causing O'Neill to suck in air in an ostentatious way.

"Would I be venturing much out on a limb if I suspect that I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear, sir?"

x

* * *

x

DOOM!

Another massive explosion rocked whatever remained of the supermarket windows and sent shards of glass flying through the shop.

None of which phased androids #16 and #18 but Faith had to take cover, lest she alerted Cell through her chi.

"That was close," Faith said as she emerged from her make do shelter. Some big shards had landed not far from her, shards so big she counted their blessing that this supermarket and the town they had found had been completely deserted. With everybody seemingly gone into hiding.

"Cell has stepped up his attacks," Android #16 said as he stared at the mushroom on the neighboring island, "Judging by his attack pattern he has destroyed all but the three islands with the most inhabitants."

"Why would he do that?" Faith asked the big android.

"Probably to increase the pressure on #18," #16 said, "that the longer she holds out, the more people will die."

"So he's basically snipping at her conscience, huh," Faith nodded, then she looked at the blonde android who was looking at some clothes, "Too bad Blondie doesn't have one."

"I heard that" Android #18 said as she dropped the clothes she was looking at, "These are cheap and tacky anyway. Tell me again why we are here?"

Faith didn't immediately respond as she checked yet another shopping isle to find what she was looking for.

"Saving your ass and with it the world, Blondie."

x

* * *

x

"And there goes Kaho'olawe," Major Carter said as she read the reports coming in now almost straight to her work station.

"How many people this time, major?" General Hammond said in a tone of a man who was now beyond despair and found a new kind of calm again.

"None, sir," Sam replied, "Kaho'olawe is uninhabited."

"Thank god for that," General Hammond said, "Status."

"Cell's blown up Necker Island, Nihoa, Ni'ihau, Kaua'i, Moloka'i, Lana'i and Kaho'olawe, sir. That's about 70.000 people dead according to the official census."

"How many islands left?" Daniel asked.

"Only Oahu, Maui and Hawaii," Sam said, "with almost 900.000 people on Oahu alone. If his pattern is anything to go by he will hit it last. But the other two islands have about 100.000 each."

"I think for the first time since the Civil War we're about to lose a whole state," O'Neill said solemnly.

"This is going to get very ugly soon," Hammond said, "ETA on take off for the Prometheus?"

"Two more minutes."

"She might make it in time to save Oahu," O'Neill said hopeful.

"If she can make an impact at all that is," Daniel said softly.

x

* * *

x

As he watched the mushroom cloud rise over Kaho'olawe Cell felt empty.

"They're not showing themselves," he said with growing impatience. So far his strategy to draw out Android #18 failed to deliver results. Okay, no more mister nice bad guy. It was now time to up the ante again.

"I guess I have to destroy all that is left," Cell said, then he began to yell again, "I HAVE ENOUGH OF THIS, #18, THE NEXT ATTACK WILL DESTROY ALL THE REMAINING ISLANDS."

Cell aimed one hand at the isle of Oahu, the other he aimed at Maui and Hawaii, which were close together.

"One way or another, this is going to end now," Cell said and prepared himself to fire.

Just as he did Cell stopped.

Something was wrong.

Something was coming.

Something big.

Then Cell looked to his right and saw a dot rapidly come towards him.

It was Vegeta.

"Great!" Cell muttered irritated, "And there comes Saiyan number three."

Vegeta, transformed into Super Saiyan, raced towards him, then he slowed down and came to a stop only feet away.

"So, finally, Vegeta," Cell said as he took stock of the new arrival.

"Yes," Vegeta said as he began to smirk confidently, "So you're Cell."

"I'm kinda busy," Cell said, "I don't suppose you could come back in a few minutes?"

"Not going to happen," Vegeta smirked, then he pointed to the island of Hawaii, "Down! Now!"

x

* * *

x

"Hey, look!" Android #18 said to Android #16, "Cell's coming down."

The big android came to the window and stood beside her.

"Vegeta's with him as well," he said as he tracked down Cell's decent to the slopes of Mauna Loa not far from them.

"He's going to fight Cell?" Android #18 said incredulously, "He's an even bigger idiot then I thought."

"An idiot who can buy you some time to escape," Faith's voice called from deeper in the supermarket, "As soon as you get a chance, you go."

"What about your plan?" Android #18 asked looking over her shoulder at Faith.

"Second rule of Slaying, Blondie," Faith sniggered, "If sticking to the plan means you die and life suddenly hands you a lemon, go make lemonade somewhere else."

x

* * *

x

As the two fighters stared each other down at the slopes of Mauna Loa they did so in silence until Cell finally had it with the silent treatment.

And that infuriating smirk of course.

"Why are you here, Vegeta?" he said as he began to smirk himself, "It can't be because you think you can actually beat me."

"I didn't come here to beat you," Vegeta smirked, then he balled a fist, "I came here to rip you to shreds!"

"You're going to do what to me?" Cell said incredulously.

Vegeta dropped his fist and turned his side towards Cell.

"I have to say it was a big shock to learn that my genes were used to create a big ugly monster like you," Vegeta said ruefully, "I really wish that computer had done a better job. I guess that's what you get for trusting a computer."

x

* * *

x

"He's stupid," Android #18 remarked.

"You do know who you're talking about, right?" Faith replied, "Frankly, I'm amazed there's even room enough on that mountain for both their egos."

Then Android #16 looked into the air.

"Someone else is coming."

x

* * *

x

Landing behind Vegeta Trunks touched down and calmly folded his arms across his chest.

"I see you brought help," Cell sneered, "It doesn't matter how much help you bring along though. It won't do you no good."

"Pff," Vegeta snorted dismissively, "He's just here to watch.'

Then he thumbed his chest.

" _I_ got what it takes to beat you."

Cell began to laugh.

"Oh this is rich," he laughed, "Let me get this straight, _you're_ good enough to beat me? And _you're_ going to rip me to shreds?"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Vegeta said, then his eyes narrowed, "Got a hearing problem?"

"No, hearing's fine," Cell replied amused, "Just found it a tad so unrealistic. I couldn't believe what I was hearing."

x

* * *

x

"It is strange but Vegeta feels much more powerful this time," Android #16 said in the supermarket.

"What do you mean?" Android #18 asked surprised, "How could he even get that way?"

"It just is," the big android shrugged.

Inside the supermarket Faith stopped what she was doing. Could it be that Goku's fairy tale story had actually been true?

x

* * *

x

Having spent more then a year in the same place as his father gave Trunks quite the unique insight into the man. One that probably differed quite a lot of that of what the other Z-fighters thought of him. With the possible exception maybe of his mother.

It had taught him that underneath that thick veneer of solid asshole there was a man of many hidden depths. And that he had only barely begun to scratch that surface and uncover who his father really was.

It was something that required tact, a lot of time and infinite amounts of patience.

It was something that Trunks was prepared to do.

For the moment it required him to play the second fiddle and be subservient to Vegeta.

His father was a loner. But it wasn't something he was out of choice. In his royal days he was accustomed to being surrounded by his own retinue. Of which only Nappa and Radditz had survived planet Vegeta's destruction.

It was only after his defeat on Earth and with Nappa's and Radditz's death that Vegeta began to develop his lone wolf mentality. Pretending not to need anyone. Especially the help and friendship of those he thought of as inferiors. But underneath the asshole facade was obviously a man with feelings. After all, his own existence was proof of that. Had Vegeta been true to his Saiyan hardass image he would never have consorted with a lowly Earth woman.

And yet he did.

After spending a year with him in the Room of Spirit and Time Trunks had decided not to disappoint his father. So he dutifully stood behind his father and let him handle Cell.

That is, if he ever got to the fight.

Cause if there was one thing Vegeta loved more then being the strongest it was hearing the sound of his own voice.

Come on, Father! Just defeat that monster!

"Take a good look, Cell," Vegeta said smug towards Cell, "I'm going to wipe that smug look of your ugly mug."

Is he going to do it already, Trunks thought, is he going to change?

Meanwhile Vegeta was seriously raising his power, his chi flames burning ever more brightly as the Saiyan prince searched for power inside him.

Unfortunately for him Cell seemed unimpressed.

Next thing Vegeta began to yell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

And then his power exploded.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout everybody was in heated argument when they all stopped and looked to the west.

"It has begun," Piccolo said in awe as he felt Vegeta's chi rise, "His chi grows by the second."

"Impossible," Belmovekk said as his jaw almost dropped to the floor, "There is no way that any being could generate this much power. Not unless he is a God."

"Unless he's the God of Assholes Vegeta's anything but divine," Tien said, "That's one strong chi though."

Inside Bulma's jet Bulma had detached the small TV and with some additional wiring had hooked it up outside the aircraft so people could watch, then she had gone back inside and fiddled some more.

"I think I'm now hooked up to that satellite feed your general is sending us," Bulma said as she fiddled with a controller to search for a signal.

"He is not my general," Belmovekk said as he stared at the TV, "We are allies."

"You keep thinking that," Bulma sniggered, "Personally, when this is over he's going to present you with a bill so big you're gonna spend the rest of your life paying the government off."

"But you're immortal," Xander said, pretending to be horrified, "That could mean….. forever?"

"But maybe you can get government healthcare and dental while you're at it," Buffy suggested hopeful, "Dare I say it..., family plan?"

"Are you getting a signal?" Bulma asked as she fidgeted with the wiring.

"I do not think….. wait, go back just a bit, there," Belmovekk said, then he squatted in front of the small television.

"Is that Hawaii?" Buffy asked as she looked at what appeared to be a set of islands.

"What's left of it," Xander snorted.

"Can you zoom in?" Belmovekk asked.

"That's the easy part," Bulma said smug as she handled her controls, upon which the image on the television began to zoom in.

"How far can you zoom in," Buffy asked.

"It's a military satellite, sweetie," Bulma said, "You probably won't be able to read a license plate from a car but I wouldn't be surprised if you could make out its year and model."

Meanwhile Piccolo walked to the edge of the Lookout. With a poof a new turban and cape appeared on him.

"Show me what you can do, Vegeta," he said softly, "Show me what lies beyond Super Saiyan."

x

* * *

x

What the hell was going on there?

As half of Hawaii now basked in the golden glow of Vegeta's still rising chi the two androids looked at each other in disbelief.

x

* * *

x

In the SGC Command & Control room alerts were going off, screens were flashing and people were panicking again.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Piccolo and the others grew more and more horrified at Vegeta's continued rise in power.

"He's still getting stronger," Piccolo gasped.

x

* * *

x

The impossible had happened!

Cell had stopped smirking.

For the first time since meeting Piccolo in Leavenworth Cell felt he had come upon another outside context problem.

Could it be that Vegeta was stronger then he was?

x

* * *

x

FLASH!

A massive eruption of golden light spread across what remained of the Hawaiian islands.

And at the center of it all stood Vegeta.

Panting heavily.

With a massive increase in the size of his muscles.

In fact he almost looked like a body builder on steroids now.

"What the he...," Cell tried to say.

But then Vegeta moved with a speed that seemed impossible for a man with the kind of bulky muscles he now seemed to have. As he moved with lightning speed Vegeta buried his fist inside Cell's stomach up to his wrist.

As Cell doubled over Vegeta withdrew his fist and then lashed out with the other one, slamming his fist against Cell's face sending the biological construct flying into the air.

As he came down on his back Cell got up and jumped on his feet, facing Vegeta who slowly walked towards him.

"Surely you can do better then that, Cell," Vegeta said contemptuously.

"It would seem that you can fight a little," Cell said trying to sound like his smug self. But the annoyance was too great to hide really.

Cell now struck out against Vegeta, but Vegeta easily dodged the attack. As he did he took hold of Cell's lower arm, turned around and swung Cell around as well, slamming him face first into the ground.

Next thing Cell got up looking pissed as hell.

Only to eat Vegeta's foot as the Saiyan dropkicked him with so much force that Cell crashed into the rocky slopes of Mauna Loa.

x

* * *

x

"What's going on there?" O'Neill said as he stared intently at the satellite imagery that Sam had brought up on one of the main screens, "All I see is blurred motions."

"Can't you see, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, "They're moving at a very accelerated rate."

O'Neill pointed to his eyes.

"Do these look like time lapse cameras?" he said sarcastically.

"I might be able to slow things down using a time lapse algorithm," Sam said as she tapped frantically at her computer. Then the big screen slowed down until two fighters could be seen who moved extremely jerky and sometimes disappeared and re-appeared over great distances.

"Great work, Carter," O'Neill said as he watched the screen intently for a moment.

"Thank you, sir," Sam smiled back.

"I don't know what worries me more though, Carter," O'Neill said, "Those two being able to fight at such incredible speeds, or you having a time lapse algorithm just conveniently at the ready."

x

* * *

x

"I wish I had that kind of power," Buffy said wistfully as she watched the satellite imagery on the small television screen, "If I had I would have _so_ ended this whole thing a long time ago."

"Didn't we have a whole ixnay on the wishing rule?" Xander said chiding.

"Puhlease," Buffy snorted, "D'Hoffryn and his 'Wild Bunch' have left for greener pastures, remember?"

"That is some sure sweet power and speed Vegeta has though," Tien agreed, "Wouldn't mind having some of that myself."

"Enough to wear one of these snazzy outfits?" Buffy said as she held up her arms to showcase her skin-tight blue battle armor suit.

"Hmmm, not that much," Tien said shaking his head.

x

* * *

x

"It looks like I have to get serious!"

As he picked himself up from his Cell shaped hole in the mountain side Cell looked very serious indeed. Also pissed off and not very much amused could be added to that list.

"I thought you were already serious?" Vegeta sneered, "But if you're not, go ahead. Don't worry about me."

Vegeta and his ego, so predictable, Cell thought jubilant. Then he started to dig deep inside himself and looked for every ounce of chi.

x

* * *

x

"Why's he not doing anything?" Daniel said surprised at the SGC control room, "He's just standing there."

"He could have finished it by the looks of it," Sam said equally flabbergasted, "Now he seems to let Cell catch his breath."

"Cell is gathering in his power," Teal'c said, "He is probably forced to go all out against this Vegeta."

"Then why is he not finishing it!" O'Neill exclaimed loudly.

"He probably seeks to test himself," Teal'c shrugged.

"That don't make no sense!" O'Neill said incredulously.

"It is their way," Teal'c replied, causing O'Neill to look at Tech-Sergeant Walters in desperation.

"Please tell me the Prometheus has a firing solution?"

x

* * *

x

As he finally reached his peak Cell panted.

Not only was it quite exerting, it was also the first time he had done so in this new body. In a way it was…., intoxicating?

As he looked at Vegeta he could see that the Saiyan was impressed.

But not for long.

"I can see your power has gone up considerably, "Vegeta said, then he smirked again, "But it doesn't make a difference."

x

* * *

x

"It looks like father's going to win," Trunks said calmly as he watched his father stare off against Cell not that far away.

x

* * *

x

SMACK!

Having reached his optimum power Cell struck out and planted his fist into Vegeta's face. Throwing everything he had into the punch he had hoped to at least sent Vegeta back, flying a few hundred feet and maybe land in a crater of his own making, face first, if preferably.

Instead Vegeta was just barely forced to take a step backwards, his face turned away. Slowly Vegeta turned his face back towards Cell, revealing a drop of blood slowly sliding down his cheek.

"That's the best you could do?" Vegeta said as he wiped away the drop of blood, "It looks like I trained too hard and gotten too strong."

Shocked that his attack had failed so miserably Cell took a step backwards.

"Tha….that's impossible," Cell stammered as he felt fear creep up on him, "You're Vegeta, aren't you?"

"No, not exactly," Vegeta said smug, then his smirk grew even bigger as he thumbed his chest, "I used to be Vegeta, but now….., I'm Super Vegeta!"

x

* * *

x

Krillin had almost reached the original site of the battle between Piccolo and the androids when he noticed that the battle had shifted to the north east. Making best speed for the Hawaiian islands Krillin saw to his horror one giant explosion after the other as Cell blew up one island after the other.

As he finally reached the island chain he noticed that only three islands had survived unscathed. And thankfully they carried most of the population as well. Not sure what to do, Krillin thought of going back to Roshi's island to the south west when he suddenly felt a truly massive chi powering up on the island of Hawaii.

"V….V….Vegeta?" Krillin stuttered as he realized who's chi it was, "That's his chi? It's even bigger then Cell's!"

How could this be?

Had Goku been right?

Had his plan for them to train in the Room of Spirit and Time worked out?

"I've got to see this," the small fighter said and took off.

It didn't take him long to reach Hawaii and find Cell and Vegeta. Cell in particular had changed dramatically, looking nothing like the creature Krillin remembered.

Vegeta had also changed. Not by much though. Just that he now looked like a damn bodybuilder on steroids. Which was something he now shared with Cell as he also shared the same bodily look.

The two of them were fighting. And fighting like mad men. Cell was moving so fast Krillin was hard pressed to follow him.

But Vegeta was moving even faster.

And he was kicking Cell's ass big time.

Not far from where they were fighting Krillin saw Trunks standing, watching the fight. The young man had also changed, his longer hair the most obvious distance.

"I wonder if he's as strong as his father," Krillin mused aloud, then he looked around if he could see Goku and the others.

He didn't find any sign of Goku and the others, but he did saw something else. Peeking out of the broken window front of a supermarket half a mile away he saw Androids #16 and #18.

x

* * *

x

Having just finished what she came here to do Faith left the bathroom and re-entered the supermarket.

Only to find the androids still gazing spellbound at the fight.

"Why are you still here?" she said angry, "Didn't I tell you to get out as soon as you had the chance?"

"But the fight…," Android #18 said pointing towards the fight higher up the slopes of Mauna Loa.

"All the more reason for you to get out while Cell's distracted," she said annoyed as she came up to them, "Once Cell beats Vege…."

"But he's winning," Android #16 said.

But she didn't hear that, as she saw it herself.

And seeing was believing.

"Damn!"

x

* * *

x

"Yeah, that's the stuff!" O'Neill shouted as he saw Vegeta pummel Cell on the big screen, "Hit that motherfucker!"

"His power is impressive," Teal'c nodded.

"And to think only a few days ago one of the androids kicked his ass," Daniel said as he cupped his chin, "Astonishing."

"I wonder how he did it," Sam mused aloud.

x

* * *

x

A clawed hand, trembling, reached for the edge of the crater. As it took hold the fingers tensed for a moment, then Cell's head emerged from the crater and he was not sporting his happy face.

Panting heavily Cell got out of the crater he had made and looked up the mountain. A little further up its slopes Vegeta stood, contemptuously having folded his arms across his chest.

I want to wipe that smirk of his goddamn face, Cell thought, as hatred burned through his veins, even if it's the last thing I'll ever do!

Instead, all he was able to do was pant heavily.

"Let me tell you something that will really shock you," Vegeta said and pointed towards Trunks, "That guy's name is Trunks. He's not as strong as me but a good second. And even he could totally and utterly beat you."

Cell looked at Vegeta, then at Trunks, who calmly returned the stare.

What is this? Some sick perverted twist of fate?

Meanwhile Vegeta's smirk disappeared and the Saiyan turned serious.

"It looks this is as strong as you'll get," he said somewhat bitter, "I'm disappointed! I wanted a really strong opponent. It be silly of me now to kill you."

Vegeta's casual dismissal caused something to snap inside Cell.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" the monster yelled, then he raised his fists to the heavens, "DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!"

Then Cell smashed his fists into the ground, causing a small tremor to rock the whole island.

"Damn you, Vegeta, damn you to hell," Cell said in angered disbelief, "It can't end like this! If only... If only I had my perfect form. Then I would never lose to the likes of you."

"Well, you know what they say," Vegeta shrugged, "Talk is cheap."

x

* * *

x

"What are they doing now?" Android #18 wondered as she tried to make sense of what Vegeta and Cell were up to.

"Knowing Vegeta he's probably showing off his ego," Faith said.

She had to admit though, the Saiyan Prince was in real good form. Almost akin to the casual nonchalance with which he had destroyed Android #19.

But as she pondered Vegeta's reborn prowess her eyes began to drift downward. That's when she noticed something else.

Krillin.

And the little dude was sneaking up on them!

As she saw him he noticed that she had seen him. Making a quick gesture for him to take the back entrance.

"I think I missed a spot," Faith said as she turned around to go back into the supermarket.

"Yeah, whatever," Android #18 said dismissively.

Free to do as she wished Faith ran through the shopping isles until she reached the loading dock on the back. Ripping open the door she found Krillin standing there.

"Come in," she said, letting him pass then close the door behind her.

"Thanks," Krillin said, then he looked at her, "What have you done to…."

"It was an idea I had. I had to improvise," Faith said, then briefly explaining what her plan had been, "But what are you doing here? It's dangerous."

"Any more dangerous then for the androids to still be here?" Krillin countered.

"They're idiots," Faith said exasperated, "Give them a freaky lightshow and its like moths to a flame. You still haven't answered my question, why are you here?"

"I thought this might come in handy," Krillin said as he reached inside his tunic and pulled out the remote controller.

"Nice!" Faith said approvingly, "Come, let's switch them off and destroy them."

"Isn't that harsh?" Krillin said a bit hesitant, "You had this whole elaborate plan to save them and now you want to destroy them?"

"Hey, it's not like I don't care," Faith said pointing to herself, then to the androids at the other end of the supermarket, "I think they're okay and stuff. But we're fighting the one horseman of the Apocalypse here. If he sucks down one more android its game over. Do we really want to run that risk?"

"Yeah, but Vegeta's winning right now?" Krillin protested.

"It's Vegeta," Faith said holding up both hands, "He's been known to trip up and end up with his own foot in his mouth, remember?"

"I suppose," Krillin said, then he looked down. A myriad of emotions went through him.

"Uh, Krillin, while I still have my good looks," Faith said as she held up her hand.

"I guess you want this, huh," Krillin said as he stared at the controller in his hands.

"Like…. yeah?" Faith said sarcastically, "Unless you want to do it yourself."

"Fine," Krillin said, "I'll do it myself."

"Have it your way," Faith shrugged, then she pointed towards the androids, "Remember, you have to be within ten meters of them for it too work."

"What about the other one?" Krillin asked, "Don't you think he could stop us?"

"Trust me," Faith said, "In his condition he won't even be able to stop the French Army if they invaded carrying a bunch of white flags. Just do it."

x

* * *

x

"So you're saying that if you had you're perfect form you wouldn't lose to me?" Vegeta said incredulously after having heard Cell's little rant of self pity.

"That's right!" Cell said angry, "I wouldn't lose to anyone! I would have perfect power! Perfect speed! Perfect reflexes! A perfect brain! I would be perfect in every aspect! That's what the computer told me!"

x

* * *

x

"What's he up to now?" Buffy said as she watched the small television on the Lookout, "Finish it, you idiot!"

"I think we're watching the application of perfect ego," Xander said wearily as he slowly shook his head.

"He's displaying his dominance," Belmovekk said frowning, "He knows he's stronger and now he's going to drag it out to flaunt it."

"So in short, he's being his usual obnoxious self?" Tien said.

x

* * *

x

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Crying out in frustrated anger Cell flew through the air after yet another kick from Vegeta.

THUD!

Carving a small trench into the mountain's side Cell came to a halt and picked himself up. Behind him he could feel Vegeta's presence as the Saiyan Prince touched down behind him.

"Are you saying that despite the power difference between us you'd beat me in your perfect form?" Vegeta's voice asked.

Cell coughed out some sand and small volcanic pieces of rock. Then he looked around and stared Vegeta right in the eyes.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself," he shouted, "Of course I could!"

Vegeta began to smirk again.

"Really?"

x

* * *

x

Always keeping his respectful distance to his father Trunks saw and heard everything.

"Father, please don't….," he said worried.

x

* * *

x

"Incredible," Android #18 said dumbstruck, "Was Vegeta trying to make us think he was weak when we fought him?"

"That would have served no purpose," Android #16 replied, then he sighed, "What has happened these past days?"

x

* * *

x

Behind the androids Krillin was sneaking up on them through the shopping isles, carrying the shut off controller at the ready.

A thousand emotions went through his head as he made his way through the produce section.

 _Just do it, Krillin,_ he thought to himself, _it's as_ _easy as turning off Roshi's big screen TV right?_

 _Then why the hesitation?_

Krillin suddenly stopped.

"Why are you stopping," Faith whispered behind him.

"Nothing," Krillin whispered, then he continued his slow approach.

 _She had a good point though,_ a voice whispered in his mind, _why did you stop?_

 _I don't know,_ Krillin thought, _I have no idea._

 _Could it be because you have feelings for her?_

The very idea was so preposterous that Krillin halted again.

"Krillin!" Faith whispered impatiently.

"Sorry," the little fighter whispered apologetic, "I thought they heard us."

"You could fire a Kamehameha next to their heads and they would still watch that other fight!" Faith whispered even more impatient.

"Then why are we whispering?" Krillin said dead earnest.

Faith wanted to say something, then something else, then she changed her mind, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'there's always a smartass'.

They resumed their slow march when his inner voice spoke again.

 _Remember how she kissed you?_

 _That was just a game,_ Krillin responded, _they do play games you know!_

 _What if it wasn't?_

 _Look, I'm not blind you know, I do realize that she's gorgeous_ , Krillin countered, _but the fate of the world is at stake here. I can't let her fall into Cell's hands and get absorbed. Discounting that the whole world could end, it's probably not exactly nice for her as well._

 _Oh, so now you're rationalizing it as doing her a_ _favor_ _?_

 _Oh shut up,_ Krillin thought annoyed, _that kiss meant nothing anyway. What girl in his right mind would want to go out with a creep like me anyway?_

 _Now we get to the point,_ the voice said in a disparaging way, _the sad bitter point! Krillin doesn't feel he's good enough for any woman. No woman could ever love poor Krillin. Poor lonesome Krillin. Who never gets the girlfriend. I have two answers for you, bucko, A: has it ever occurred to you that it might be how you present yourself that drives the ladies away? Not the way you look? And B: she's a friggin' cyborg! She couldn't care less about how you look. She doesn't think like other women do!_

 _But I can see I'm clearly falling on deaf ears here, buddy,_ the voice continued after a mental sigh, _so how about this? Do you have the right to kill her to save the planet? Is it okay to kill an innocent to save another person?_

Krillin couldn't think of an answer to that.

 _Now what if Cell didn't need to assimilate Android #18 to become perfect? What if he needed to assimilate Bulma? Or Roshi? Tien? Yamcha? Goku? Would you be so quick to condemn them to death?_

Again Krillin couldn't think of an answer.

 _You have no moral right to do what you are going to do, Krillin. And deep down you know that. That's why you kept asking Trunks to tell you if the Androids were evil. And that's why you are hesitating now. Not because she's a pretty girl who kissed you. Sure, that plays a part. But what's really eating you up inside is that you know that what you are about to do is wrong. It's wrong to kill the innocent to save others. And if he were here your friend Goku would agree. He would try to find another way._

Krillin stopped again.

"You're right," he said aloud.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked.

"This is wrong," Krillin said as he turned around, "I can't do this."

"Do what?" Faith asked, then her eyes started to roll, "Don't tell me what I think you're thinking. Don't even think like that!"

"We shouldn't do this," Krillin said shaking his head, "We don't have the right to destroy Android #18 to save the world."

"Like hell we do," Faith said incredulously, "Clearly you haven't been a Slayer, but we are forced to do stuff like that all the time."

"It's still wrong," Krillin said adamantly.

"Well, mister Dalai Lama," Faith snorted, "What do you propose? Sit around and do nothing? Wait for Vegeta to finish off Cell?"

"Why not?" Krillin said deadpan, "He seems to be doing alright?"

"Are you kidding?" Faith gasped, "That's Vegeta out there! I wouldn't trust him to change a light bulb!"

"Goku did," Krillin replied

"And the fact that he does tells you what exactly about his IQ?" Faith countered, then she held out her hand, "Give me the controller."

Krillin looked at the controller in his hand. If he handed her the controller #18's blood would be on her hands, not his.

But he would still be the one who allowed her to do so.

"No," he said shaking his head as he brought the controller behind his back, "It's wrong."

Faith looked angry, then she balled her fists, unclenched them again, brought them to her face and gave herself a double facepalm. Then she took a deep breath and put them together in front of her like in a prayer.

"Krillin," she said calmly, "I know you're a good guy and you mean well. But I swear, if you don't give me the controller I will put my fist so far up your ass that you'll become my sock puppet and I'll use the controller that way. Do I make myself clear?"

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout Piccolo had so far abstained from watching the satellite imagery, instead preferring to rely on his senses. Because he was so intensely focused on following the fight on Mauna Loa he was also the first to notice when something else revealed itself close by.

"Faith?"

x

* * *

x

Android #18 was engrossed watch Vegeta fight Cell. What the hell was he doing now? Even though he had the upper hand he seemed hesitant to finish Cell off.

"Why is he not ending it?" #18 said mystified.

"I am not sure," #16 replied worried, "But I think this might be a good time to…."

CRASH!

A loud crashing noise behind them had the two androids turn heads.

"What the….," Android #18 said, her eyes wide open.

Amidst several broken and overturned shelves Faith was wrestling a new arrival. One that she recognized. Even without the active data stream that even now entered her mind.

Name: Krillin

Race: human male, Asian

Eyes: brown

Hair: shaven

Skin: light tan

Height: 4 feet 6 inches

Status: ally of Goku

Abilities: Bukujutsu, Double Tsuihikidan, Fusenko, Kakusandan, Kamehameha, Kienzan, Shishin No Ken, Taiyoken, Zanzoken

Strength: 50.000 (estimated)

Recommendation: TERMINATE

The two weren't fighting as such, not like Vegeta was fighting Cell. But they were engaged in a test of will. A wrestle that seemed to revolve around a certain object. One that Faith seemed desperate to grab and Krillin seemed desperate to keep out of her hands.

And then Faith upped the ante and drove her knee into Krillin's groin, causing the little fighter to drop whatever he was holding, giving Android #18 finally the chance to see what it was.

The moment she saw what it was she felt a chill run down her spine and cold sweat break out all over her body.

An emergency shut off controller!

Almost similar to the one that Gero had used to turn her and her brother off at will. How on Earth had he….?

Then the damnest thing happened.

At first glance she had assumed that it was Krillin who had come here to turn her off and Faith who had stopped her. But once he had dropped the controller Faith tried to grab it when Krillin suddenly struck the device with his fist and utterly smashed it.

Why on Earth would he do that?

Was he trying to keep the device from Faith instead?

And why was she then trying to take hold of that thing?

Now that it was over Faith let go of Krillin and dusted herself off. It was then that she noticed that the androids were looking.

"Alright," Faith said deadpan, "I guess this means we're back at plan B again."

x

* * *

x

"Can you move the image to the side?" Piccolo asked as he looked intensely at the small TV screen.

"Sure," Bulma said as she began tapping on her laptop, "although technically I'm not really moving it, just shifting the focus to a different part of the feed."

"Yeah, whatever," Piccolo said, "a little more to the other side."

"What are you looking for?" Belmovekk asked curious.

"I sensed Faith," Piccolo said, "more to the north please."

"The Androids took her, did they not?" Belmovekk said, looking at Tien.

"They were the last time I saw them," Tien confirmed.

"You think she is still with them?" Belmovekk asked Piccolo.

"I hope not," Piccolo said as peered at the screen, "more to the north please, Bulma, mo…., hold it… there!"

Piccolo pointed to a spot on the screen.

"Zoom in there," he said and everybody started to look intently. Then Buffy looked at her sister.

"Please tell me that the Androids in your time at least aren't _that_ stupid."

x

* * *

x

"How about it, Vegeta?"

Cell couldn't believe that Vegeta was actually starting to fall for his ploy, but the Saiyan Prince had stopped pummelling and instead started contemplating.

"You're a Saiyan, you love to fight," Cell said sweet voiced, "the stronger your opponent, the more enjoyable your fight. Well, am I right?"

The only thing missing in his performance was a big wink at the end.

Vegeta meanwhile stood there, arms folded across his chest.

"Wouldn't you like to fight me in my ultimate form?" Cell added seductively.

Vegeta said nothing for a while and all the while Cell held his breath. Normally this wouldn't work on anyone. Anyone but Vegeta that is.

And guess who had quite the insight in the Saiyan Prince thanks to an influx of his DNA?

"Impressive, you seem to know a lot about us Saiyans," Vegeta said with his stupid smirk, then he made a dismissive gesture, "Go ahead. Get your perfect form."

 _YES!_

"There is no glory in defeating you like this," Vegeta added.

 _Oh yes!_

 _You idiot! You fell for it,_ Cell thought elated. Then he slowly took off into the air.

"Looking forward to the next time, Cell," Vegeta called after him.

In your dreams, prince of morons!

Cell tried to gain height when suddenly somebody got in his way.

It was Trunks.

"Father may let you go, but I won't!"

x

* * *

x

"Why did he let him go?" O'Neill said flabbergasted in the SGC control room, "He had him! What kind of…? This stupid fight has got more twists and plotholes then a goddamn soap opera!"

x

* * *

x

O'Neill wasn't the only one thinking that.

With Trunks in his way Cell knew that he had been foiled again.

And Trunks wasn't going to be sweet talked into stepping aside.

So Cell turned to Vegeta.

"Vegeta, do something about your son," he called down.

 _Hey! It might work. Right?_

As he looked down however Cell saw something else.

In the broken shop window of a supermarket in a nearby town he saw Androids #16 and #18.

#18!

 _I've found you! So that's where you've been hiding!_

Noticing that Cell stopped paying attention to him Trunks looked to where Cell was looking and nearly had a heart attack.

The androids!

Why were they still here? Didn't they have even the slightest bit of common sense built into them?

They appeared to be inside some supermarket, completely oblivious to the fact that Cell had caught them.

"HEY!" Trunks yelled, "CELL KNOWS YOU'RE THERE!"

That caught the androids attention and they ran deeper inside the supermarket.

"Oh no you don't," Cell yelled and dove towards the supermarket.

"I WON'T LET YOU GET YOUR PERFECT FORM!" Trunks yelled and his power exploded in a detonation of yellow chi. His muscles expanded similarly to Vegeta's as did his power and the teen now dove after Cell.

Meanwhile Vegeta watched it all.

"I see," Vegeta smiled, "how convenient that the androids are this close. Can't have the boy get in the way though."

Then Vegeta dove for the duo himself.

Trunks had almost overtaken Cell when suddenly Vegeta hit him with kick to his back, sending the teen crashing into the ground.

"Thanks for the assist, Vegeta," Cell grinned, then he continued on.

Almost there.

Almost there.

Then, when he seemed about to reach the supermarket something weird happened.

Out of the sky a beam of energy struck, hitting Cell squarely in the back.

"NO!" Cell moaned as the wind got knocked out of him and he fell to the ground.

x

* * *

x

"Prometheus reports a direct hit!" Tech-Sergeant Walters almost shouted triumphantly in the SGC control room.

"Take that you son of a bitch!" O'Neill said elated as his fist pumped the air as they saw Cell fall to the ground.

The Prometheus was Earth's first home build space battlecruiser, made from captured alien technology together with some aid by the Asgard. Developed to defend Earth from the Goa'uld and the first in a line of many more when finished she would probably be able to go toe to toe with several Goa'uld Ha'taks and win.

Unfortunately she still wasn't finished yet. Chief component missing was the Asgard beam weapon, which meant that for now she had been installed with a less powerful Goa'uld beam weapon, the one that had just fired on Cell.

"I don't think we hit him that hard," Daniel said as he studied the big screen and Cell lying on the ground, "I think we just made him more pissed."

x

* * *

x

Damn those Earthers, Vegeta thought as he scoured the skies. He recognized that energy attack as a beam weapon launched from an orbiting space ship. And it definitely looked like a Goa'uld beam weapon.

He knew that idiot Movekk had handed the Earthers a Goa'uld space cruiser. So it had to be them. But where was it? He had seen the beam strike Cell, but not from where it had come.

It had to be destroyed.

He was this close to reaching his goals. He couldn't let the Earthers stand in the way of the fight of his life.

Scouring the heavens Vegeta used his senses to scan for lifeforms close to Earth. At least he knew the general direction.

There!

It wasn't hard to miss once you knew where to look for it.

He was about to fire an attack when a voice called for him.

"FATHER!"

It was his idiot son.

"You're making a mistake! We can't let Cell obtain his perfect form!" Trunks yelled from the ground, "What will you do if he becomes stronger then us?"

"Humpf," Vegeta snorted impressed as he looked over his shoulder at his son, "You're a wimp! Don't you want to see how strong he'll get?"

"No!" Trunks said resolute, "I have had my fill of a hellish future, remember?"

"Too bad, you're gonna," Vegeta said.

Then Trunks raised his hands towards his father.

"I will stop Cell from getting his perfect form," Trunks said determined, "Even if that means going through you, father."

"You attack me?" Vegeta snorted incredulously, "You don't have what it takes to raise up arms against your father."

Then Trunks proved his father wrong by unleashing a whopper of an energy attack at him.

DOOM!

x

* * *

x

As he shook his head Cell tried to shake off the effects of the unexpected sneak attack. It wasn't a big one, nor did it do much of a damage. But like Tien's Kikohou it had managed to knock the wind out of him.

It meant that there was somebody else out there. Maybe Goku. That teleporting bastard!

It didn't matter, he had bigger fish to fry.

Like absorbing #18.

As he got up to his feet Cell stared at the supermarket. So close now.

Then, from the back of the supermarket two dots took to the air and sped away towards the east as fast as they could.

"You can run but you can't hide, #18," Cell called after them, then he began to smirk, "Idiots! They're no match for my speed. Should have run away when you had the chance."

Launching himself in the air in a blaze of white chi Cell took off after the androids.

As he did behind him Trunks fired off a massive blast at Vegeta but Cell paid no heed. His focus was squarely on the retreating androids.

Another energy beam lashed out from the skies but this time Cell was prepared and easily swatted the beam attack aside.

He also knew that behind him Trunks was now hot on his heels but he had enough of a head start.

"I have you now!" Cell said triumphantly as he overtook the androids and placed himself in their path, his tail opening up in the funnel sucking position.

And then, if he had been standing on a metaphorical stage, this would be the moment when the metaphorical trapdoor would open and the metaphorical carpet would be pulled from underneath his feet.

Hanging beside Android #16 was not Android #18.

It was Faith, her hair dyed blonde and wearing #18's clothes.

x

* * *

x

When Cell had spotted the androids and the controller broken Faith was left with no other alternative then to carry out her original plan. That's why they had come to this supermarket to begin with, to look for some hair dye shampoo.

"Quickly, your clothes!" Faith shouted as she pulled off her own.

For once Android #18 didn't argue and took off her own until she was in her underwear. Giving Krillin lots of semi nudity to enjoy. Then the two women put on each other's clothes.

"Change of plans," Faith said, "I go with Big, strong and silent, you go with Shortie here. And no buts! Come!"

Grabbing Android #16 by his arms Faith made for the exit and together they took to the skies.

"Come," Krillin said to Android #18, now dressed in Faith's leather clothes, "we have to get out of here as soon as Cell goes after them.

"But where to?" Android #18 asked unsure.

"We're going to Roshi's," Krillin said, "At least he has a phone we can use. Maybe then Goku or Belmovekk can come in and teleport us to safety."

No sooner had he said that when he suddenly found himself with a Saiyan teleporting in.

It was Belmovekk.

"Anyone rang for a taxi?" the Saiyan grinned.

x

* * *

x

As Cell discovered he had been duped three people flashed into existence at the entrance of the Cheyenne Mountain complex.

"Where are we?" Krillin asked as he saw the large military gate leading into the mountain.

"Vegeta has betrayed us," Belmovekk said, "Either willingly or unwillingly he now desires for Cell to become perfect. I suspect the former as he has always had a tendency to test himself against the strongest opponent. That means for as long as Cell has to chance become perfect he will now let him."

"He fought Trunks as well," Krillin said, "That goes a bit further then letting Cell become perfect."

"Henceforth the betrayal," Belmovekk nodded, then he cupped his chin and tapped his nose, "but all is not lost. Tomorrow Goku and Gohan will emerge from the Room of Spirit and Time and both Cell and Vegeta will be dealt with. They have only a small window of opportunity."

"They're gonna tear apart the world looking for her though," Krillin said, "How are we going to keep her safe until then?"

"By taking her off this world," Belmovekk said and pointed to two men in uniform coming their way, "Good day, Warleader O'Neill, Teal'c."

"Satiya," Teal'c said as he a gave a short respectful bow.

"Cut the crap," O'Neill said then he looked at Android #18, "So this is the big android, huh? She looks more like a Real Doll."

Android #18 didn't respond, instead she looked around left and right, then she exploded.

Throwing her arms left and right she released two big shockwaves of energy that blasted away parked vehicles and stacked supplies.

"Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on!" she said angry and agitated.

Looking at the damage O'Neill slowly looked left and right.

"I didn't know PMS now also came with Real Dolls," he said calmly.

Belmovekk turned to Android #18.

"By now it should be obvious that Earth is not a good place for you to be, Android #18. You need to get away from here. And these fine gentlemen just happen to have the only way for you to get off this planet. So play nice."


	25. Interlude 'Ceremonies of Light and Dark'

**Interlude:**

' **Ceremonies of Light and Dark'**

x

x

AN: _Yup, it's interlude time again. One interlude after each chapter, remember? Until I got a little too excited with the last three chapters. But now its back to the original game plan. I hope!_

x

* * *

x

A-Day+11 years, 8 months, 2 days, somewhere, sometime

x

Human population: ± 1 billion

The San Fernando Valley had been hit hard by the androids in the opening days of the Android Invasion, its southern arm in particular having been scorched to the ground. Very few people had survived the 'Burning of the Valley' as Californians came to call it.

Despite the utter devastation it had wrought, the Valley was still inhabited. With the greater San Francisco area still intact as a market and the Valley still being good agricultural ground people inevitably moved back to repopulate it. This being part of a general trend across the world after the collapse of the fortified city scheme. As dispersal now became the only means of surviving, it made even more sense to do so in the ruins of the places that had already been hit. After all, what better place to hide then in the places that already had been hit?

That at least was the theory.

In practice nobody knew for sure.

With the US census bureau no longer existing, as with almost any other branch of the US government, there was no way to know for sure if the androids hit their old 'stomping grounds' more or less then usual. No way to collect the data, no way to correlate findings.

That didn't stop people from taking to the devastated zones again. In a day when people had to survive from day to day against incredible hardness, belief, not reason, was what sustained them. And not just belief in God, a god, or gods. It was belief in the little things.

It was belief that certain things would help prevent the androids from returning/attacking them. Ranging from the relatively harmless, like a belief that certain harmless rituals would help, to the truly absurd like the sacrifice of animals and even people. There was no rational basis for it. It was self sustaining. If community X did the things they believed they had to do and were spared because the androids had an elsewhere to be, well, then it had to be true, right? And if not, then as far as their neighbors were concerned they failed to adhere to the proper rituals and lore.

Of course not everything was silly superstition. Just like aboriginal tribes in deserts and jungles passed along good need to know information with absolute harmful superstitious garbage through their myths and legends, so it was with the new superstition. Always keep a low profile, move about in small groups, always make sure you have a way to escape, stay abreast of the android warnings on the radio, try not to live on open space when you can hide in the mountains, if you have no mountains use anything else that provides cover, if you have no cover go deep underground.

In the Valley few people lived in what used to be the main population centers, that string of towns and cities in the center of the valley. Instead they clustered along the high ground of the Sierra Nevada and the Diablo Range, where protection and shelter seemed more likely.

The small community of New Exeter eked out a marginal existence not that far from the old Yosemite National Park. Two larger communities not far from them meant that they had less access to the fertile grounds in the Valley, and anywhere else in the world it meant almost certain death. Access to fertile grounds was life, especially to mountain communities which depended on long distance farming. It wasn't uncommon for territorial disputes to grow into local warfare. And there had been instances where one community had left clues for the androids to find that led to a rival community.

Luckily for New Exeter its relatively close proximity to San Francisco meant that in this part of the Valley things were never as black as they seemed.

While all the branches of the US government had ceased to be there was still one branch left that survived.

The US Army.

Throughout the territory of the former United States, and parts of what used to be Canada and Mexico the US Army still patrolled, sorting out territorial disputes, maintaining the android early warning system and providing protection for traders, traveling across the land.

But it came at a price. One that wasn't always paid in blood by the men in uniform.

Captain DeLancie of the 40th Divisional Command led his command along the Sierra Nevada mountains. They had been on the road for two weeks now and his troops were nervous. His command, the 408th logistical company normally numbered 22 soldiers and a heavy buggy. But since they had been on the road for two weeks, journeying from one community to the other, their ranks had been swollen to almost three times that amount.

The US Army of year 11 of the Android Invasion was a different one from the US Army of before the Android Invasion. Or the first few years of the invasion for that matter. For one the uniforms looked very different, the average soldier's uniform now carrying so much camouflage they looked more like the ghillie suits US snipers used to wear, making extensive use of rough webbing and loose strips of cloth or twine, often augmented with local scraps of foliage. It wasn't ideal, in fact it was impractical and hot as hell, hard to make and quite expensive. But anything was better then getting noticed by the androids, right?

Another thing that had changed was the average age of the average soldier. Before the Android Invasion the average age of a US soldier had been almost 27. It had now dropped to 15.

The Android Invasion had killed off the old professional army. The mass drafts had lowered the age to 19. That army also died not that much later, both from getting killed as from mass desertion. After the governments of the world basically abandoned the planet when the SGC was destroyed and all other branches of government collapsed the military was left to fend for itself. With no more civilian oversight and still faced with the need to maintain a semblance of order Earth's surviving generals borrowed a page from those other military organizations that had to fend for themselves under harsh circumstances.

African guerillas/warlords.

African resistance movements often used child soldiers because they were more moldable, obedient and not forget easier to intimidate. All qualities that the US Army, or others for that matter, felt it now needed to survive.

So now throughout the country men like Captain DeLancie, he himself barely 20 years old, scoured the land, going to communities like New Exeter to exact food, raw materials and of course, young children.

Like any good community that managed to survive for this long New Exeter had sentries out to keep an eye for possible attacks, both androids, other communities and of course the Army.

Tax collecting was not a popular duty, neither for the tax paying communities and neither was it for the troops. Nobody liked paying taxes when they were all but dying as they tried to survive. There had been communities which had taken up arms against taxation. In some parts of the former United States whole revolts had broken out under the old slogan 'no taxation without representation!' At least one divisional command had collapsed that way, the 35th in Kansas, creating a large lawless zone that other divisional commands wanted to annex, if it weren't for their own lack of manpower.

If push came to shove the Army could theoretically muster greater force and attack a rebellious community. But that was risky as concentrating such great numbers risked android attack. More often then not men like Captain DeLancie had the authority to call for the ultimate sanction instead. They would leave signs behind betraying that community to the androids.

The very threat alone was usually sufficient, provided that the object lesson had been carried out in recent memory.

But even then Army tax collectors still had to be very careful in case of an ambush, both from the communities itself or the androids. It went without saying that even if you could stomach taking away food and children from starving people, that threat alone was enough to dishearten the average soldier.

But Captain DeLancie was more then up for the challenge. In fact he was a volunteer.

Which was also why he was a captain at age 20.

Showing exceptional skill at tax farming, meaning complete and utter ruthlessness, DeLancie always managed to fulfill his quotas. Which was why the 408th logistical company now almost had up to twice its number in children age 11 and 12.

As they neared the hidden location of New Exeter DeLancie ordered his troops to deploy. Troops manning the buggy deployed its camouflage making it look like a large boulder, so they could then ready its main weapon, the mortar.

After all, this was the day when the only weapons against the androids were stealth and camouflage, which meant that the only enemies the Army would actually fight would be fellow humans.

With its heavy weapon deployed at a safe distance from the settlement DeLancie waited for his scouts to return. Which they did.

Coming with the scouts were two of the village leaders. They weren't there to talk with Captain DeLancie. They had come to act as hostages. They were also women of still child bearing age which meant that the settlement could ill afford to lose them.

Now that he had his hostages DeLancie returned with the scouts to the settlement. New Exeter was built into a shallow valley underneath a large overhanging rock. From above it couldn't be seen. Still, it was far from ideal as there was too much potential for smoke to escape in the open. And while fire was still vital for survival, smoke could kill. Caves were better. But that was yet another reason why New Exeter was a struggling settlement.

As he entered the valley DeLancie was greeted by the village elder. He had met him before, as he came here at least twice a year.

"Greetings, Captain DeLancie," the village elder said respectfully, "We are always pleased to welcome our men in uniform."

Considering that the two scouts beside DeLancie were barely in their puberty there was considerable irony in the village elder's words.

Unfortunately, or maybe it was fortunate after all, the US Army had not issued DeLancie with a sense of humor delicate enough to see the irony.

"Elder Daniels," DeLancie replied, knowing the leaders of every settlement in his tax farming district, "Let us not waste any words. You know why I'm here. It is that time of year again, you must pay us for the protection that we offer."

"Yeah, about that," the elder said as he looked downcast, "It has been a very bad half year. Times have been hard and both New Springfield and East Riding have squeezed us very hard for access to the fields. On behalf of my people I was hoping that we could apply for an abstention."

DeLancie did not look pleased but he refrained from yelling at Daniels. Experience had taught him that while he should be firm, outright hostility should be applied with moderation.

"You know I cannot give you an abstention," DeLancie said calmly, "the General would not be pleased. You must give us more then just a sad story. On behalf of the General I demand access to your books."

"Of course," Elder Daniels hurriedly said, then he beckoned someone, "You shall have full access."

A villager came running with a notebook which he handed to DeLancie, who began reading it. After a few minutes he threw the notebook over his shoulders.

"You expect me to believe this crap?" he said still using his calm voice, "Do you take me for a fool, Elder Daniels?"

"But captain," Daniels protested vehemently, "These numbers are the truth. We are…"

SMACK

Captain DeLancie lashed out and struck the village elder in his face, causing him to fall on his back.

"Do I look stupid to you?" DeLancie said as he raised his voice, then he addressed the people of New Exeter, "Do I look stupid to you people? I have seen better forgeries when Stinky McCormack used to forge his mother's signature in the first grade."

"But captain...," Daniels protested, only to be stopped as one of the scouts put his gun to his head.

"The people of New Exeter owe the General what the 40th Division quartermaster has set out for them," DeLancie shouted, "You will pay up or face the ultimate consequence."

"But captain," Daniels said, "we would starve!"

"Then starve for all I care," DeLancie said cold, "If you are of no use to us we might as well turn you over to the androids. At least that way next year my men and I will be home a day earlier."

Still with a gun to his head village elder Daniels turned to his people.

"Give him what he wants, he would do it."

x

* * *

x

As the last bag of grain was handed over to the soldiers and placed into Capsule Corp. capsule containers, DeLancie's own quartermaster nodded that New Exeter had fulfilled its quota of grain and foodstuffs. That left only one last thing to do.

Together with one of the scouts DeLancie inspected the children of New Exeter, having them lined up in a row for easy inspection. Passing them by one at a time DeLancie finally halted in front of a girl in her early teens. How old exactly was hard to say as the hard life now delayed the onsets of puberty in teenagers.

"You," he said and the scout pulled her out of the line. Behind them one of the women of the village began to wail and a man came forth.

"Please, Captain," the man begged as he fell to his knees, "Not my daughter, not my Jenna. She's my only daughter! If you must take someone, take one of my sons, I have three of them."

"I have no more need of boys," DeLancie said without pity, "I have my quota of boys. I do need more girls. Soldiers need entertainment."

Then DeLancie patted the man on his cheek.

"Don't worry," he said ruefully, "if the androids do not burn this place she will return in a few years once we tire of her. And who knows, when she returns you might even be a grand dad."

x

* * *

x

High above on the rocks Trunks and Mayan had been watching as the army tax collectors were stealing the poor people of what few things they still had.

"Those bastards," Trunks said angry, "We should go down there and teach them a lesson about stealing from these people."

"And what would you do?" the voice of Gohan said behind them. Trunks and Mayan turned their heads around to look at their teacher.

"Strike them down!" Trunks said resolute, "This shouldn't be happening."

"They're going to rape that girl, aren't they?" Mayan asked.

"In a way. Like the man said. Soldiers need 'entertainment' too," Gohan said mournfully, then he looked away, "So you think we should do something?"

"Yes!" Trunks said, to which Mayan nodded in agreement.

"You two do realize these things happen all over the country, right?" Gohan said as he folded his arms across his chest, "Hell, they're happening all over the world. And where do you think the food you eat comes from? The parts that keep our gym going? It's already working at only one third capacity. This is the price we pay every day for our continued existence."

"Then that price is too high!" Trunks said vehemently.

"So you want to get rid of the army?" Gohan asked, "Get rid of the trade that keeps your mother in business and our gym going? The food that you eat? The one thing that prevents all the settlements from killing each other over water and land?"

Gohan turned away from Trunks and Mayan.

"Maybe I should take you to Kansas," he said wistful, "I was there last year on an errand for your mother. There is no army there. No tax collectors, no forced takings of children."

"Sounds like a good place," Trunks said.

"It's hell," Gohan said as he slowly shook his head, "Do you know that the androids don't even go there any more? People fight each other there for access to land and water. There's even a band of religious fanatics who think if they can force anybody to pray for salvation the androids will be stricken down by God. Of course anyone who refuses to pray gets killed. Why should the androids bother to kill them when the people there do it themselves."

Gohan turned around, joined Trunks and Mayan and looked into the valley.

"I brought you here for a reason," he said, "To see the price that humans have to pay to survive. The price of the food you eat and the price of training in our gym."

"It's too high," Trunks said, but his voice had lost its anger.

"Of course it is," Gohan replied as below them the soldiers dragged away the crying girl, "But remember who is responsible for this. Only 12 years ago this would have been unthinkable. It's the androids who have turned us into this. It's they who have forced us to pay this price."

Gohan turned around and walked away, followed by Trunks and Mayan.

"Xander once said, don't hate the player, hate the game," Gohan said mournfully, "Never forget who forced this game upon us."


	26. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter 14**

' **The Gloaming'**

x

x

AN: _Holy crap, I'm half way. It seems like it was yesterday that I started writing this story and thought what the hell am I going to do? There's so much to do! Bilbo Baggins was right. Every long journey starts by taking one step at a time._

x

* * *

x

"What is this place?" Android #18 asked confused as she looked around at the military facility and the soldiers surrounding them.

"Officially it is something called a deep space telemetry something," Belmovekk replied, "Unofficially it houses an age old device called a Stargate built by long gone aliens that allows you to travel to distant worlds."

"You've got to be kidding, right?" Android #18 said incredulously, "That sounds like the biggest load of bull ever."

"But its true," Krillin said, "they have this network of gates that goes all over the galaxy."

"Excuse me," #18 said snide, "I'm talking here."

Right at that moment you could have heard Krillin's heart break, if hearts actually would break, or make sounds doing so. Even those who knew nothing about Krillin's feelings for the android could see that her words cut him deep.

"That was brutal," O'Neill said sympathetically as the little fighter tried to keep himself from falling apart. Then he turned to Belmovekk.

"Do the words 'operational security' mean anything to you?"

The Saiyan pretended he had to think before giving an answer.

"I guess not," O'Neill said before the Saiyan could reply, then he turned around and pointed towards the large entrance into the mountain, "Just go in there, boys and girls."

Belmovekk and Android #18 walked past him, following Teal'c, the android shooting an angry glare at O'Neill. The only one who didn't move was Krillin, just standing there looking forlorn.

"Look," O'Neill said a little hesitantly, "What just happened…., I don't know what happened between you two but…., well…, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Thanks…, I guess," Krillin said, his shoulders completely slumped.

O'Neill put his hand on the little guy's shoulders.

"I don't know what the plan was, or is," O'Neill said, "but this place really is a top secret military installation. Or at least it was supposed to be. I suppose you could come inside. Or don't, feel free to be miserable somewhere else. But as the saying goes, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay up here."

"I don't know, I suppose it would be better if I go ho….," Krillin said, then he stopped and looked over his shoulder into the skies. Curious to see what he was looking for O'Neill looked upwards as well, then his face went sour.

"Great!" he muttered sour, "it's _her_ again."

Coming in low across the mountain three people swooped in, flew overhead and landed close to the entrance of the SGC/NORAD complex, just in front of Belmovekk.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Buffy said even before she touched down.

"Doing what has to be done," Belmovekk said resolute, "You know perfectly well as I do that she can't stay here. We can't fight both Cell _and_ Vegeta. Taking her off this world is the only course left. What Cell cannot find, he cannot absorb."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Buffy waved dismissively, "I'm not talking about that, daddy dearest, I'm talking about the part where you go off star trekking across the universe on your own again. Have you forgotten what happened the last two times?"

Belmovekk raised an eyebrow as he wanted to say something, then he didn't and instead closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"As I recall the last time we went out there it was a trap set out to ensnare you, young lady," he said softly.

"Don't you dare you use something as logic on me, daddy dearest," Buffy countered, "I'm coming with you and that's the end of it!"

The Saiyan looked upwards, then he rolled his eyes.

"Look, I hate to interrupt this heartwarming family reunion," O'Neill said as he and Krillin caught up, "But we are on a tight schedule here. We don't want Cell to be here before we can even fire up the gate, now do we?"

"Fine! Come along!" Belmovekk said as he threw his hands into the air, then he looked at the other two arrivals, Xander and Mayan, "I guess you want to come along too?"

"And miss my chance to go Star Trekkin'?" Xander grinned from ear to ear, "Not in a million years!"

"I for one am not going to let Android #18 wander out of my sight," Mayan said as she eyed the android wearily, "I don't trust her."

"Whoever you are, the feeling's mutual," Android #18 retorted equally weary.

"Yeah, like I care," Mayan snorted, then she muttered something softly which sounded a lot like 'murdering bitch'.

"Let me get this clear," O'Neill said as he looked at everybody, looking pretty exasperated at this point, "We're all going, right? Might I suggest that we're actually going? Like in right now?"

"Fine by me, Colonel Cassandra," Buffy said and walked inside the entrance of the Cheyenne Mountain complex. As she did O'Neill turned to Belmovekk.

"Since you're her dad now, can I spank her?"

"She fought with Cell and lived, commander," Belmovekk said slightly amused, "What makes you think she would even feel it?"

"I know I would feel," O'Neill said deadpan, "Like all warm and tingly inside?"

Belmovekk looked oddly at O'Neill, then he smiled.

"How very droll, commander," he said then he turned to Android #18, "Come."

The android allowed herself be led by Belmovekk, but not before shooting one more glare at Mayan.

"Come," Xander said as he put his hand on Mayan's shoulder, "she'll grow on you."

"She's been growing on me for 17 years," Mayan snorted as they walked past O'Neill and Teal'c.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" O'Neill sighed as he looked at Teal'c, who merely returned an amused look, then O'Neill looked at Krillin, "Last chance, coming or going?"

"I think I'll come," Krillin said.

x

* * *

x

"You again!" Cell exclaimed in shock at not seeing Android #18 but someone else.

"Why, I'm so pleased to see you too," Faith grinned at the flabbergasted Cell, then she brought her hand to the side of her head and extended her thumb and pinkie like it was a telephone, "What happened, lover? I thought you would call?"

"FUCK!" Cell yelled angry as he pounded the air with his fists, sending shockwaves of chi into all directions, "I've been tricked!"

"You know something," Faith said pityingly as she looked at Android #16, "I guess he's not happy to see us."

"I think so too," Android #16 echoed with a very self satisfied smile.

"You know, people can be so rude these days," Faith said pretending to be offended.

"This can't be happening to me!" Cell said, then he threw his arms into the air, "Why is this happening to me!"

"You see," Faith said to Android #16, "when things start to unravelling for the Big Bad this is when they start losing it."

"I see," Android #16 nodded appreciatively.

"She could be anywhere by now," Cell said enraged, "This can't be happening to me! I was supposed to become perfect!"

"Oh, he's really coming apart," Faith remarked, "This might be a good time for us to…."

"Not so fast," Cell hissed angrily as he faced Faith again, "This was all part of your ruse. Tell me, where did she go!"

Faith folded her arms calmly across her chest and held up two fingers.

"Firstly, I'd die before I would ever tell you," she said with a peace of mind that even surprised her, "You already killed Piccolo. He's the only one I that care about that you could ever threaten me with to make me talk."

"Hmmpf," Cell said annoyed, then he raised his hand towards her, "Maybe you're not afraid of dying, but I have other ways of making you talk. I can make you suffer pains unimaginably. Your suffering would be legendary."

"Puhlease," Faith snorted incredulously, "I'm a bloody Slayer. I eat pain for breakfast. I'm supposed to suffer a painful death. Hell, I never expected to live for this long anyway. I'm on injury time as it is."

"But even if you did make me talk, what would you learn? I told her to amscray as far away as possible and not tell us where she was going. I couldn't even tell you where she was going even if I knew."

"And how about if I kill him instead?" Cell said as he re-aimed his hand towards Android #16.

"I hardly know the guy," Faith shrugged unimpressed, then she looked at Android #16, "But I do know him enough to know that he would be willing to do die as well."

"Indeed," Android #16 said calmly.

"Still doesn't change the fact that we still don't know where Android #18 went," Faith said with a big grin on her face.

"Then I shall kill you both," Cell said very much annoyed, "You are no use to me then."

"Whatever," Faith shrugged unimpressed, then she held up a third finger, "There is this tiny matter of a third point though."

"Like what?" Cell asked.

" _He_ might have something to say about that," Faith said and pointed next to Cell. As Cell looked around a leg swung around and crashed into his face. As Cell fell backwards into the ocean Faith turned to Trunks.

"What took you so long?"

x

* * *

x

"Well, I have to admit, he actually did it," Vegeta said as he floated off the waters off Hawaii. Trunks blast had hit him with considerable force, knocked the wind right out of him and caused him to be in his current position.

It was stupid of him to let himself be taken off guard by his own son, banking on his son's devoted loyalty towards him and underestimating Trunk's determination to finish the job above all. Like his own desire to test himself in glorious battle, Trunk's desire to see the job through at all cost was also a very Saiyan trait. He should never have underestimated that.

Stupid stupid stupid!

Determined Vegeta lifted himself out of the waters and took off. Now that his son had proven that he actually had a pair of balls Vegeta would no longer make the mistake of underestimating him.

Nobody, not even his own son, would stand between him and his ultimate fight.

x

* * *

x

"I think I found them again!" Bulma said triumphantly as she stopped fiddling with her equipment and joined Piccolo and Tien as they watched the small television screen.

"Are those androids #16 and #18?" Tien said, then he looked at Piccolo, "Did Belmovekk fail? I thought he was going to get her out?"

"He did get her out," Piccolo said, his hands folded underneath his arms in a self embrace, "He's right at the SGC below, and the others are now with him. It doesn't make any sense for…. oh….."

"Oh what?" Tien asked as Piccolo leaned forward to study the small television screen intently, then Piccolo's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Faith?"

x

* * *

x

As Trunks engaged with Cell in hand to hand combat, Android #16 and Faith watched on in awe. Trunks was every bit as strong as his father had been and was slapping Cell around like a red headed stepchild. Whatever that place was where Goku had taken them, it had to be awesome. Once this was over she had to go there herself.

Then Faith looked to the west and grabbed Android #16 by the shoulder.

"We have to go," she said hurried.

"But Trunks is winning," Android #16 protested, "This could be over any second."

"I don't think so," Faith said shaking her head, "In fact I think we're in for a very lengthy overtime. I think we have an elsewhere to be. And fast!"

Android #16 looked at her bewildered, then he looked to the west and got the hint.

"You are right," he said, then the two of them took off as fast as they both could, "Where are we going?"

"Getting you back into this fight," Faith said, "to the only person I know who knows how to fix you."

x

* * *

x

Vegeta hadn't lied when he had said that Trunks was just as strong as he was, Cell thought as Trunks beat the living shit out of him. And just like with Vegeta Trunks moved too fast for Cell to get in anything but a decisive blow.

Fortunately this time Cell knew he wasn't alone and that help was on the way. All he had to do was hold on long enough for the cavalry to come to his rescue.

Of course he had to play it careful, so as to not alert Trunks. So like in his battle with Vegeta Cell tried to play to Trunks' emotions.

"Please, I beg you, no more!" he begged, but it was to no avail as Trunks managed to knee him in the stomach.

"I will show you no mercy, you monster," Trunks yelled as he followed up with a series of blows to Cell's head and stomach.

SMACK!

"I!"

THUD!

"Will!"

WHACK!

"Not!"

CRASH!

"Allow!"

THUD!

"You!"

CRACK!

"To!"

THUD!

"Ruin!"

WHACK!

"This!"

SMACK!

"Earth!"

CRASH!

"Too!"

WHACK!

The last blow sent Cell almost crashing into the waters below and he managed to halt his descent only meters above the waves. As he hung there panting in the air Trunks slowly descended down next to him.

"No more," Cell panted defeated, then he wearily glared at Trunks, "Count yourself lucky that you never met my perfect form."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that that's a pleasure we're all lucky to have missed," Trunks said grim, "Time to die, Cell."

"I hate you," Cell panted back, "I hate you and everyone else."

Trunks' hands began to weave intricate patterns in the air in front of him and an energy attack began to glow in front of him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Cell said defiantly, then he spit at Trunks. The spit of course never reached Trunks and harmlessly bounced off his chi.

"It's enough to finish you off," Trunks said determined.

"Yeah, right," Cell said, then he began to grin, "I don't think so."

"You're so going to ge….," Trunks said, but his words were cut short as Vegeta crashed into him with so much force the teen splashed into the Pacific and disappeared beneath the waves.

"You sure took your sweet time, Vegeta," Cell said berating but Vegeta shrugged off Cell's criticism.

"I'm not your bodyguard," Vegeta snorted indifferent, "Now go! I'll take care of Trunks, you go absorb that windup doll."

"She and that other Slayer changed clothes and gave me the slip," Cell said as he threw his hands into the air, "She could be anywhere."

"So, blow up some more places?" Vegeta said.

"I would if I knew where to look," Cell said, his confidence gone, causing Vegeta to facepalm himself.

"In Priya's name, do I have to do everything for you? I….," Vegeta suddenly stopped his rant, first he looked to the west, where Hawaii was, then to the east, as he did his jaw nearly fell open, "You crafty bugger!"

"What?" Cell said hopeful, "You know something?"

"I thought I briefly sensed Belmovekk back at Hawaii," Vegeta said, then he pointed to the east, towards America, "But now he's there. I suspect he used his instant transmission to snatch away your windup doll."

"How's that possible?" Cell said, "I killed him."

Vegeta looked at Cell annoyed.

"Then you didn't finish the job. When I left the Lookout he was alive and kicking."

"So he's got #18," Cell said as he extended his senses. And then, weakly, as if he was shielded, Cell found the signature of that annoying Saiyan which had cost him so much time.

"You're right," he said grim, "He's there. And so are others. But what are they doing there?"

"How the hell should I know!" Vegeta bit back angrily, "He's not at the lookout, that's for sure. Maybe you should…."

Vegeta stopped mid sentence. First he looked shocked, then he began to look angry.

"You bastard!" he said angry, then he began to smirk appreciatively, "Well played you magnificent bastard."

"What?" Cell said impatiently, the suspense killing him.

"Belmovekk's involved with the Earthers' military," Vegeta said, "And they have ways to get your windup doll off planet. Not only do they have space ships capable of reaching other worlds, they have a device called the Stargate that allows for instant travel across the entire Galaxy. And it's right where he is now. Hurry up or you'll never get your windup doll!"

Cell looked flabbergasted as the implications of what Vegeta said began to sink in. But before he could respond a massive golden light began to shine from underneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

"Ah, the boy's coming back," Vegeta said as he began to smirk, "This might be your cue to go. Be sure to catch the windup doll in time, or else I'm forced to end your miserable existence after all."

"Oh, I will find the bitch," Cell said determined, then he took off.

No sooner had he done so when a massive blast shot up from underneath the surface of the ocean, straight up into the air.

"You'll have to do better then that, Trunks," Vegeta said as his son finally emerged from the ocean, "Waaaay better then that!"

x

* * *

x

On the bridge of the USAF Prometheus Sergeant Meriwether manning the ship's sensor suite began to yell excitedly.

"He's on the move again, sir, Cell's on the move again!"

"Where's he going?" Colonel Pendergast, captain of the Prometheus asked.

"He's heading straight for the continental USA, sir," the sergeant said even more excited.

"We have to stop him, captain," the ship's XO said, "If he unleashes the same kind of devastation on the mainland like he did on Hawaii…."

"I concur," Pendergast said, "But our main weapon has proven ineffective so far."

"Maybe if we close in we can increase its effectiveness," the XO suggested, "The Goa'uld also prefer to discharge their weaponry up close."

"Wouldn't that put the ship in danger?" Pendergast asked, "Maybe we should wait for the Enterprise to reach us and launch a combined assault?"

"We have that option," the XO agreed said as he looked at the data from the ship's sensors, "Although present data indicates that Cell will hit the mainland before the Enterprise can join us. And if we fight Cell over California there would be no way for the Pentagon to hide our existence."

"Somehow I don't think that would be the Pentagon's biggest concern," Pendergast said, then he reclined in his chair, "Alright, let's take the ship closer."

x

* * *

x

Cell was about 2/3rds the way to the American West Coast when to his horror the minute lock he had on that annoying Saiyan disappeared. And with it his only link to the whereabouts of Android #18.

"NOOOOOO!" Cell yelled as he came to an abrupt stop, "This can't be! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO HELL, SAIYAN!"

x

* * *

x

"He suddenly stopped," Sergeant Meriwether exclaimed as he couldn't believe the data he was reading on his console.

"What's he up too?" the Prometheus' XO said.

"Let's not find out," Captain Pendergast said determined, "Launch fighters."

x

* * *

x

"DAMN IT!" Cell continued to yell, "THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT LI….."

He had been so caught up in his anger that he didn't notice that somehow a massive flying spaceship had parked itself between him and the American coast.

"What the…..," Cell said surprised as he finally took notice.

Then all hell broke loose.

x

* * *

x

"All guns have acquired their target," the weapons officer on the Prometheus' bridge said.

"Fighters are in position," the ship's air operations officer said.

"Then let's give him hell, gentlemen," the captain said, "Commence attack!"

x

* * *

x

On the command of Captain Pendergast eight F-302 space superiority fighters, loosely based on the Goa'uld deathglider, launched their full load of naquadah enhanced nuclear missiles, all designed to take out capital space ships, at Cell.

Not that much later the Prometheus fired off its main gun, coinciding its attack with the detonation the 16 nuclear warheads launched by its fighter wing.

The result was the mother of all explosions, the resulting flash seen all over the American West Coast.

x

* * *

x

"DIRECT HIT!" the weapons officer on board the Prometheus said jubilant as all screens lit up like Christmas lights.

"We got him!" the XO said equally jubilant.

Captain Pendergast on the other hand seemed less jubilant, instead he tried to make sense of the data he was getting on his own side screen.

If only that accursed fireball would dissipate.

x

* * *

x

"Holy crap!" Tien said on the Lookout as he, Bulma and Piccolo watched the attack happen on the little television screen, "I didn't know anyone on Earth other then a Super Saiyan had that kind of firepower. How did they get that?"

"From putting their noses into stuff they shouldn't have," Piccolo said gruff, "And that idiot Belmovekk in no small part played a part in it as well."

"You don't approve?" Bulma said surprised, "Why are you so negative? My company helped build those fighters so you know. And at least now they have a chance to fight against that thing."

"A chance to get themselves killed," Piccolo said raising an eyebrow.

"You don't think that was strong enough to take out Cell?" Tien asked.

"Puhlease," Piccolo snorted derisively, "My last attack on Cell carried more punch then that. And did it kill him?"

x

* * *

x

"Where are you?" Captain Pendergast said as he tried to make sense of the data. The fireball had by now mostly dissipated but not the dust clouds. Making it impossible for the crew of the Prometheus to ascertain whether or not their attack had been successful.

"Still no sign of Cell, captain," the sensor operator said.

"We must have vaporized him," the ship's XO said excited, "We must have!"

"I have two pilots willing to enter the cloud to see if Cell's still there," the ship's flight operations officer said, "They're already close by."

"Maybe we should," the ship's XO said to the captain. But Pendergast shook his head.

"Too risky," he said shaking his head, "We wait the old fashioned way. Ready the main gun again just in case."

x

* * *

x

"Cobra 2 and 4, this is Prometheus actual," a voice said over the radio as the two F-302's steered dangerously close to the massive dust cloud, "permission to enter the cloud is denied, repeat, permission to enter the cloud is denied. Return to the flock."

Inside one of the two F-302's the pilot and the rear weapons operator glanced at each other. To them it seemed ludicrous that permission had been denied, but they knew better then to object over the radio. The Prometheus might after all know something they didn't.

"Prometheus actual, this is Cobra 2," the rear weapons operator said, "Affirmative, will return to the rest of the vipers."

The two F-302's turned and made for the Prometheus. Behind the Prometheus the rest of the Prometheus' wing was flying, putting them close enough to come to the Prometheus' aid if need be.

But as the two fighters sped past the Prometheus, the rear weapons operator from Cobra 2 saw something that made his heart almost stop.

"Good God, Prometheus," he yelled frantically into the radio, "Cell, he's on top of you! I repeat he's standing right on top of you!"

x

* * *

x

No sooner had the warning of Cobra 2 reverberated through the bridge when a tremor went through the ship and alarms went off.

"Sir, we have a hull breach on A-deck!" one of the crew yelled, followed by another tremor rocking the ship.

"We're being entered, Lionel," the XO yelled as he ran to another console and looked at the screen, "we're being entered like we're in a God damn pirate movie!"

"OH MY GOD! IT'S CELL!" a voice yelled panic stricken over the intercom, "IT'S CELL! HE'S INSI….AAAAAAAAAAAAAH…"

"That was B-deck," the XO said looking at his screen, "Christ! He's ripping the ship apart!"

No sooner had he said so when another tremor vibrated across the ship.

The captain joined the XO and together they looked at the reports coming in as more and more crew members reported sightings of Cell, then dying.

"He seems to be searching for something," the XO said.

"I agree," the captain said, "but searching for what?"

"Captain," the flight operations officer said, "Cobra Leader wishes to know his orders if he should come to our aid?"

The captain and the XO looked at each other, then they nodded like they understood each other.

"Tell Cobra leader to maintain a safe distance. And if need be to return to Area 52,," the captain said forcefully, "there's nothing he can do for us."

The flight operations officer nodded and directed the order through the waiting F-302's. Meanwhile the two officers looked at each other.

"We're not going to stop him here either, Lionel," the XO said, "We may have to abandon ship."

"I know," the captain said, then his face turned grim, "but not before we self destruct her with Cell on board."

"While I agree on the sentiment, we may have to look at the big picture, captain," the XO said, "If that attack didn't phase Cell, I don't think blowing up the Prometheus will do either. This ship does present a major investment from the US government and by proxy the world. We don't know what Cell's intentions are but if there's a chance to save this ship I recommend that we should take it."

Captain Pendergast didn't respond at first. Then another voice reported in seeing Cell and then died.

"That was from red section," the XO said as he checked his screen, "He's stopped descending decks, he's moving laterally."

"He's coming this way," Pendergast said, "whatever it is he wants, its here."

The captain looked around his bridge and the eyes of everyone looking at him.

"I want everybody to evacuate the bridge and go to engineering. Establish command of this ship from there. Try and save the ship if you can, but if things look hopeless abandon ship. If Cell's still on board blow up the ship with him."

The captain then turned to the XO.

"You're now in command, Daniels," he said in earnest, "Take care of my ship."

x

* * *

x

In the SGC gateroom Android 18 looked at the massive Stargate. It was the biggest object in the room and yet it looked completely out of place. It looked….. alien?

It also gave her plenty to reflect on yet another thing that bastard Gero had been wrong about as well. Vampires, demons, aliens, the government fighting aliens. No wonder he had ended up in bed with medieval Islamic terrorists. A man of his genius walking through the world blind to everything when he could have sold his soul to the devil as it were and get what he wanted.

She could do with a little selling your soul to get what you want right now. And not just to get her out of the mess she was currently in.

More then anything she missed her brother. Dr. Gero had been pretty thorough wiping their memories but she did know a few things. Things that were almost instinctive. First that they were twin brother and sister. And secondly that throughout their existence they had never been separated from one another. That was why she had always put up with his antics. Because that was what she always did. And because deep down she knew she really had nothing better to do.

Her brother would have loved this place though. The potential for interesting games and ways to entertain himself here were endless. And being away from Earth meant that they would finally be really free of Gero's programming. As long as they were on this planet there was always the chance for some hidden piece of programming to be triggered, but out there, there was nothing really to be triggered, right?

Standing on the ramp leading up to the gate #18 heard somebody walk up.

"Not now, little man," she said irritated, "Leave me be!"

"Are you referring to shortstuff?" a female voice said instead, causing Android #18 to look around. It was Buffy.

"It's you?" #18 said snide, "Are you here to spy on me again, Anne? Or should I say Buffy?"

"Ah," Buffy said as she nodded, "So he did hear."

"Yeah my brother told me of your fight with those vampires," #18 continued, "He told me everything."

"Then why did he continue the charade?" Buffy asked.

"Because it amused him?" #18 shrugged, "As you may have noticed my brother loved playing games."

"Yeah, we noticed that too," Buffy said as she bit her lip, "For what its worth, I'm sorry for your loss. We tried stopping Cell, but we failed…."

"Spare me your platitudes," Android #18 said dismissively, "You weren't trying to stop Cell from absorbing my brother, you were trying to buy time for Piccolo so he could destroy my brother!"

"No need to bust your PMS chip," Buffy said as she turned around to stomp off. As soon as she left the ramp she halted and turned around briefly.

"Oh, and just so you know, when they turn on that big giant swirly you'd better be off that ramp. Or you're going to make Cell very unhappy and force Colonel Cassandra to gather up your chips and bolts all over the place."

Meanwhile Belmovekk was busy talking to O'Neill and Teal'c in a corner of the gateroom when a soldier came and whispered something and redirected him to a nearby telephone hanging near the entrance.

"O'Neill here," the colonel said then he listened for a while and briefly talked back. Then he hung up the phone and an alarm began to glare.

"Change of plan people," O'Neill said as the big Stargate came to life and began to rotate, "We're going now. And by we I mean just you guys and Teal'c. The rest of my team will follow later."

"Chevron one encoded," a voice called over the speakers.

O'Neill walked up to the ramp and Android #18 and beckoned for her to leave.

"That ain't the best place to be, honey."

x

* * *

x

CRASH!

With a loud noise the doors to the bridge of the Prometheus buckled inwards and were then ripped to shreds, like they were some curtain that somebody just brushed aside. Then, surrounded by white flames of chi, Cell entered the Prometheus' bridge.

Only one man remained, sitting in the captain's chair, and slowly Captain Pendergast swiveled his chair around so he could face Cell.

"Are you the captain?" Cell asked.

"I am the captain of the Prometheus," Pendergast said steadfast as strong winds generated by Cell's chi flames began to blow through the bridge.

"Shouldn't you have a crew?" Cell said as he slowly looked around the bridge.

"I ordered them to safety," Pendergast said, "I've also had the ship's computer locked out even to me. Whatever you want you won't get it."

"I see," Cell said, "so this is your 'going down with the ship' kind of moment? How very…., unoriginal."

"I could do even better," Captain Pendergast continued, "I hereby offer you a chance to surrender to the United States government and stand for trial."

Cell began to snigger softly as he folded his arms across his chest.

"What if I decline your offer?" he asked, "What are you going to do? Blow up your ship? Bleed on me? Neither will harm me much I can tell you, captain!"

Cell heaped lots of scorn on the word captain.

"Nothing of the sort," Captain Pendergast said calmly, "Just an appeal to your sense of decency? Surely you have more to offer to this universe then just being a cardboard villain?"

Again Cell sniggered softly.

"Suppose I did surrender?" he said smirking, "Where on Earth are you going to find a jury of _m_ y peers?"

"I admit that might be a conceivable problem," Pendergast admitted, "But on the bright side, if you can't afford a lawyer one will be provided to you free of charge. And I'm sure Johnny Cochrane would be jumping at the bits at the chance to defend you."

"Hmm," Cell said as he pretended to think, "Tempting, and maybe if I had become perfect I might have done it just for laughs. But unfortunately I have more pressing engagements elsewhere. I need the location of something called the Stargate and since I have it on reliable authority that this ship is connected to that facility I thought I'd swing by in the hope for an answer."

"What are you talking about?" Pendergast said as he played innocent, "There is no such thing as a Stargate."

"There are also no such things as highly advanced space ships," Cell said deadpan, "And yet, just by looking around I can see that there is. Do not insult my intelligence, captain."

Cell again put emphasis on the word captain, only this time an ominous one.

"Suppose there is," Pendergast said, "What makes you think I would tell? Kill me and you would learn nothing. Torture me and I won't tell. And the computers are still locked out."

Cell again pretended to think for a moment.

"Torture is such an ominous word for what is just a crude form of gathering intelligence," he said as he stroked his chin, "I prefer a different term for what is sure to net me the information that I need."

"Like what?" Pendergast asked.

No sooner had he said as Cell's tail lashed out and impaled itself on his chest.

As Pendergast stared in disbelief at the tail stuck through his chest he began to feel a draining sensation inside him.

"How about absorption?" Cell smirked, "While I no longer have any need to absorb any of you humans, I do find that with absorption I also learn what that person thinks. Personal things, hopes and dreams, a lifetime of regrets and missed opportunities, fetishes so weird it boggles the mind you people actually manage to live together."

Pendergast didn't reply as he was rapidly starting to lose himself. Mentally and physically as his body literally was melting away in the captain's chair.

"Strange things, weird things," Cell continued, then his smirk changed from confident to extremely pleased, "… and the location of the SGC, right underneath NORAD. How convenient!"

As the last remains of Captain Pendergast got sucked up by Cell, he pointed one hand towards the wall and fired off a large blast.

DOOM!

For an instant smoke filled the bridge of the Prometheus' bridge, then the acrid smoke got sucked out as the pressurized air streamed out of the giant hole in the Prometheus.

Next thing Cell launched himself through the hole and sped towards the American West Coast again.

But not before leaving behind a small gift in the form of a pulsating globe of obscene energy of death, detonating within seconds of him leaving.

x

* * *

x

"Chevron seven encoded," the voice called through the gate room as the Stargate swung around again. Only this time it came to a stop and a massive geyser of light blue energy erupted, making Android #18 glad she had heeded the warning to get out of the way.

"Holy crap," the other girl said, the one that looked so much like Buffy they could be identical twins, except for her black hair and black irises in her eyes, "You could use that as a weapon!"

"Yeah, if only we could get Cell in front of it," Xander joked, "Then all of our problems would be solved. Then again, it might just bounce off him and hit us instead. Life likes to pull a funny like that."

"Mister sunshine shines his rays on us again," Buffy said, then she walked up the ramp past Android #18, "Rise and shine, Blondie, time to go and explore the final frontier."

Buffy then walked through the event horizon and disappeared. Next to go was Teal'c who walked steadfast up the ramp.

"We must go," the big Jaffa said at Android #18 before he also disappeared through the event horizon.

Tentatively Android #18 walked up to the event horizon, there she halted. Wearily she examined the event horizon's surface, then she cautiously extended a finger and almost touched. Almost because she halted just an inch away.

Next thing Krillin walked up to her.

"Intellectually I know this is supposed to transport me to a different part of the Galaxy," Android #18 said without looking at Krillin, "I've seen it happen. And yet I feel strangely hesitant. Why do I even feel? Am I not merely an android?"

"I don't think you're just an android," Krillin said dead earnest.

"What makes you think that?" she asked as she looked at him.

"I…, uh…., um…," Krillin stuttered as his face began to turn red, "You…, um, seem willing to, uh, overcome your programming. You're…., um, willing to do…, uh, new things?"

Android #18 looked at the little fighter for a while.

"Uh, thanks I guess," she said.

"Just go through," Krillin said gesturing towards the event horizon, "Think of it like a new experience."

"Why don't you find out first?" she said, then she slapped Krillin on his shoulder with so much force that the little fighter got pushed through the event horizon.

On the other side Krillin came flying through, his arms flailing wildly.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Krillin yelled before he landed at the foot of a platform on which another Stargate stood.

"I think you're supposed to just walk through it," Buffy said, standing next to the control pillar, "Not land on your face."

"I shall try that next time," Krillin said, spitting out some dirt as he got up. Before he got to his feet Android #18 came through the event horizon. As she did she looked up and saw an orange sky.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked looking around, seeing nothing but brush shrubbery and medium sized boulders on a sandy plain.

"Judging by the sight of it we're on the set of some old Star Trek episode," Buffy said as she glanced around, "I keep expecting to see the Guardian of Forever peeking around some corner."

"The what?" Android #18 said with a look of amazement.

"Oh, I forget," Buffy said pretending to be embarrassed, "You don't speak geek."

x

* * *

x

Back on Earth Belmovekk was still busy talking with O'Neill.

"Are you sure nothing is wrong," Belmovekk asked the colonel, "Why the change of plans?

"Just go," O'Neill said and pointed to the Stargate, "It's the Pentagon. If you thought the political fall out of Cell's original rampage was bad, him nuking the state of Hawaii is ten times worse. Kinsey's on the warpath and this will give him just the ammunition he thinks he needs to finish us once and for all. I have to be here for that."

Belmovekk looked at O'Neill and raised an eyebrow, like he didn't quite trust it.

"Look, you go," O'Neill said, "You've got Teal'c to guide you. You just keep on going, we'll meet you at the rendezvous point once this is over."

Belmovekk again eyed O'Neill suspiciously, then he sighed.

"Alright," he said and turned to Xander and Mayan, "Let's go then."

"You go ahead," Xander said and pointed over his shoulder towards the door, "I think I saw a candy machine in that rec room two doors down that corridor."

" _Now_ you want candy?" Belmovekk said incredulously, "Why now?"

"Because we're off into deep space for god knows how long and this might be my last chance to get a Hershey bar?" Xander said deadpan, causing Belmovekk to facepalm himself.

"Be quick," he sighed exasperated as Xander ran away, then he turned to Mayan, "Are you coming?""

Mayan gestured towards the swirling Stargate.

"Just lead the way, father," she said .

As Belmovekk walked up the ramp Daniel watched on from the control room. Sam was nearby on her console, but not General Hammond, who was currently pre-occupied by the disaster that had befallen the Prometheus.

"I'll be glad when this is over," Daniel sighed, "I almost long for the days when the only thing we had to worry about was Anubis."

"That may not be such a good idea," Sam said as she read the data on her own screen, "Cell almost destroyed the Prometheus. Daniels is holding her apart but only barely. If these numbers are correct it might even be more cost effective and faster to scrap her and build a new ship instead."

"That's going to be the least of our worries right now," Daniel sighed.

Below Belmovekk stepped through the Stargate, with Mayan behind him.

Then the girl did something odd, instead of following her father she turned around and ran down the ramp again, shouting something at O'Neill.

"What the….," Daniel said surprised. But before he could finish Xander stormed into the control room.

"KILL IT!" he yelled, "Shut that thing down now!"

x

* * *

x

Just moments after he had stepped through the Stargate the event horizon suddenly closed behind him.

"What the hell?" he said flabbergasted as he turned around, "What is going on here? Why did they shut it down?"

"Did it malfunction?" Android #18 asked worried, "I'm not going through another one if it malfunctions."

"Relax, it's perfectly safe," Buffy said, "It's a total wigfest but its totally safe."

"Don't you tell me to relax," Android #18 said angry but Buffy was unimpressed.

"Put a sock in it, Blondie," she said, then she turned to Belmovekk, "Look, Belmo, there is no malfunction. They shut it down on purpose."

"Why would they do that?" Krillin asked.

"You do the math," Buffy said, "While it's a good idea to take her off planet, there was always the chance that Cell would find the big giant swirly and come after us. And with all due respect to Colonel Cassandra and his Merry Men, but they don't stand a chance in hell to stop him. So Xander and Mayan decided that they would remain behind and help stop him if he did."

"Why the secrecy?" Belmovekk asked.

"Because we know you," Buffy said, "the moment you'd learn of their plan you'd never leave and stay behind as well. We need you here."

"But why?" Belmovekk asked, "Surely it would be better if I were to remain behind as well and help them stop Cell before he manages to get through the gate?"

"And if he comes through here? Who's going to stop him then?" Buffy asked, then she pointed to Teal'c, "Murray here? He wouldn't last ten seconds. No offense."

"None taken, Buffy Summers," Teal'c said, then he went to the gate control panel and began to punch in new coordinates, "We should go. The more times we go through the gate, the harder it will be for Cell to find us."

"A sound idea," Belmovekk said, then he turned to Buffy, "I still would have preferred to have known of your plan. Contrary to what you may think I am open to reason."

"The scary part is that of all three of you guys actually think that," Buffy said, "up to a point of course, as you can't help being from planet Pocket Protector."

"Hmmpf," Belmovekk snorted as the Stargate erupted back to life.

"Let's go," Teal'c said as he walked up the platform and then went through the gate.

As they went Buffy couldn't help but almost giggle as she finally managed to sneak in a secret on Belmo. And a double one as well. For Xander had overheard the phone call that Colonel Cassandra had with the Big Giant Head upstairs. Cell had attacked their newest shiny spaceship and from it had probably learned the location of the SGC. Because he was incoming. And coming in fast!

x

* * *

x

"Excuse me?"

Xander pulled Daniel Jackson by the shoulder. Amidst the pandemonium that was the SGC control room, where everybody was hunched over screens, or looking over the shoulders of people looking at screens, or just busy shouting orders, Daniel seemed the only one not currently engaged with something.

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

"Could you..., um, show me the way to sickbay?" Xander asked a bit sheepishly.

"What? Right now?" Daniel said incredulously, "We're in the midst of a crisis here. Cell's coming."

"Yes, right now," Xander nodded, "Or I won't be of much use to you when he comes."

"I…, uh..," Daniel stammered as he debated himself, then he shrugged, "Why not. It's not like I'm needed here."

As he and Xander left the control room they bumped into Mayan.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Sickbay," Xander said.

"Actually, it's called the infirmary," Daniel interjected, "only ships have sickbays."

"Same thing, Doc," Xander shrugged indifferent.

"Mind if I come along?" Mayan asked, causing Xander and Daniel to look at her.

"What?" she said defensive, then she pointed to her shapely bum, "My tail, remember? Goku ripped it off. It does hurt you know."

"Maybe you should have taken a senzu?" Xander said, "Why didn't you take a Senzu?"

"Excuse me for not wanting to waste a senzu on something as trivial as a torn off tail," Mayan said defensively, "It's not like we have a limitless supply of them. If there was then maybe my sister…."

Mayan stopped talking and looked away.

"What is it with you and Buffy?" Xander asked curious, "You've been riding her ever since you got here."

"It's personal," Mayan said brusque.

"I'll bet it is," Xander said but decided not to press the issue. Instead he gestured for her to follow, "Fine, come along. Let's get you some anesthetic cream. I'm sure they keep a supply at the ready, just in case they run into the Borg."

As they walked through the corridors of the SGC and up one of the elevators Mayan wondered how anybody could ever hope to find their way through this vast complex.

"Why are there no maps in here?" she asked curiously.

"Think about it," Xander responded before Daniel could, "This place got a gateway to the stars. If aliens are going to invade us, would you want the first thing to greet them to be a map on the wall that says "You are here!' and the directions to the nearest exit?"

"I wouldn't put it quite like that, but that's more or less the reason, yeah," Daniel said.

"Oh," Mayan said taken aback.

"Don't worry," Daniel said as he tried to put her at ease, "I did get lost here all the time at first, but you get used to it. It feels like home now."

"I heard there were underground cities like this in my time," Mayan said as she looked into a side corridor that they passed, "I've never seen them but the rumors persist."

"How could you not know?" Xander asked, to which Mayan gave him a glare.

"Like you've been to every place in this world," she retorted.

"Touché," Xander said, then he winked at Mayan, "Although you'd be surprised at the places I've been too. This world and others."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Daniel asked curious, "As far as I know you've never been to the SGC."

"More then one way to skin a cat, Doc," Xander grinned, "More then one way."

Daniel gave Xander an odd look, but before he could ask they entered the base infirmary where Doctor Frasier looked really surprised as she saw Xander walk in.

"You?" she exclaimed as her jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Hiya doc!" Xander exchanged cheerfully, "Long time no see since you last anal probed me. Did you miss me?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Doc Frasier asked.

"Storm's coming, Doc," Xander grinned, "One that's seven foot high, wears camo and likes his people like he does his martinis, frightened, not stirred."

Doc Frasier looked baffled at Xander, then she gave Daniel Jackson the 'what the f***?' look.

"He..., um, wanted to come here," Daniel explained.

"Okay," Frasier said as she turned to Xander again, "Spill it, this better be good."

Xander smiled impishly, then he shook his head and made a blubbering noise.

"BRRRRRRR, damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not a…."

"Make that Star Trek joke one more time and I _will_ actually give you an anal probe exam," Frasier interjected deadpan.

"Yes Ma'am," Xander said as he wiped the smile of his face.

"So what do I owe the displeasure of your company this time?" Doctor Frasier asked.

"Give me your strongest painkillers, Doc," Xander said as he pulled up the sleeve of his battle armor skin suit on his arm, "I don't care what it is, if it knocks out an elephant, but I have to have it."

"You've got to be kidding me," Janet gasped, "What on Earth do you need that for?"

"I got to do something that's incredibly painful, Doc," Xander shrugged, "And I have to keep a level head while doing it."

"How painful?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Try sticking your dick in a wall socket, do the electric boogie and find out," Xander suggested, "It's a hoot!"

Daniel and Frasier looked at each other for a moment.

"He's joking, right?" she asked him but Daniel shrugged.

"I wish," he just said.

"Alright," Janet sighed, then she walked to a medical cabinet, opened it, took out a small vial of pills and threw them towards Xander.

"Take these 5 times a day with a glass of water," she said with a brazen face.

"Aspirin?" Xander said after he had read the label, "Tell me you're kidding, right, Doc? I need something that takes care of industrial strength pain, not a headache."

"I don't kid when it comes to medicine, kid," Frasier retorted, "I can't just hand out strong painkillers. Not without a prescription at least."

"Where the hell am I going to get a doctor's prescription at this short notice?" Xander protested, then he looked at Mayan and Daniel who were doing their utmost not to break out in laughter, "What?"

"Nothing," Mayan said as she could barely contain her laughter, "Irony much?"

"What do you mean?" Xander said dead earnest.

"Shall I add brain damage to your symptoms?" Janet said, then she pretended to think, "Although you don't need pain killers for that, unless you got something really large lodged in your head."

"His foot maybe," Mayan suggested.

"That would be my diagnosis as well," Janet echoed.

"Women!" Xander sighed towards Daniel who had watched with great amusement, then Xander rolled his eyes as he looked upwards, "I just wanted some painkillers! Was that too much to ask?"

"Uh, that's only the ceiling you're talking too," Janet said, then she pointed to the left, "If you want to talk to someone, there's a security camera over there."

"Way too much fun," Xander sighed, then he held out his hand towards the doctor, "Alright Doc, you want to know why I need some happy pills? Give me your hand."

"What for?" Janet said wearily, but Xander nodded reassuringly.

"Trust me," he said, "I'll just show you."

"Show me what?" she said as she tentatively extended her hand.

"A little something," Xander said as he took hold of her hand, "a glimpse of what I had to endure."

Then, without warning somebody shoved a flaming hot poker in Janet's head. Or so it felt. And then mercifully she lost consciousness.

x

* * *

x

As Cell crossed the American coastline he was being followed of sorts.

More fighters being flown by human vermin. Some of them belonged to the wing of the Prometheus as they kept a close watch on the deadly monster, from a respectable distance.

Also following however were two very unlikely fellows. Unlikely in the sense that they weren't actually following Cell as much, but more that each was trying to stop the other from following Cell.

Trunks by now was desperately trying to stop Cell from going wherever the hell he was currently going. Although, judging by the general direction and because he had been there he had a pretty good idea where Cell was going. That and the half blown up spaceship spewing out fire and noxious fumes that they had passed along the way was the other hint.

He knew that he could take on Cell and beat him. If only if it weren't for the constant attacks from his own father. His own misguided and above all idiot of a father. Who was willing to risk the future of this world on the off chance of getting a good fight. Never before was he more ashamed of his own ancestry.

Unfortunately his father seemed unrelenting in trying to stop him from stopping Cell. Other then that he also had a very big incentive in following Cell as well because he wanted to be first at hand when Cell reached perfection so he could claim his perfect fight.

For now both seemed loath to kill the other, more in knocking the other out and then going after Cell. Until the other one caught up and the circle began anew. And this was troubling Trunks greatly. For he also knew that his father was way more ruthless then he was. There was the distinct possibility that his father would grow tired and instead of trying to just knock him out he might go for a crippling or killing blow instead.

Not only was the prospect of getting killed by one's own father so he could have an entertaining fight chilling, it also raised the idea that when that happened he might be forced to return the favor. It was an idea that made him sick in his stomach.

And yet it was also an idea that grew less and less appalling as this current freak show went on.

x

* * *

x

As she regained consciousness Janet Frasier stared into the worried face of Daniel Jackson.

"Janet, are you alright?" the scientist asked concerned as he hovered over her. As she regained more and more of her senses Janet discovered that she was lying on the floor.

"Ï think so," Janet said, then she reached for a head, "Although my head pounds like a bass drum."

"That was a bit melodramatic," Mayan meanwhile said to Xander who just shrugged.

"Sometimes feeling is believing," Xander said unmoved, "She wanted to play 'Doctor By The Book', trust me, this is quicker."

"It's also callous," Mayan retorted.

"We're not in it to play nice," Xander shrugged again, "We're in it to win. I thought you of all people would understand."

"I thought I did," Mayan said as she watched Daniel help Janet to her feet, "Now I'm not so sure."

She had always thought that she was willing to do whatever it takes to win. But as she saw Xander's willingness to inflict pain to make a quick point she wasn't so sure. Now it reminded her of Willow and Gohan, who in order to win had both been willing to sacrifice their own humanity, do the unthinkable.

Now she was starting to worry if any good came from that. And in the end, hadn't both died without accomplishing anything?

Xander's little stint did work after all though, as the SGC doctor dropped her objections in giving him painkillers. She even went as far as offering him morphine. But which Xander declined fearing they might impair his judgment.

"That narrows it down quite considerably," the SGC doctor said, "I got some stuff left, but it will take some time to take effect. And it won't be as potent as morphine."

"I'll take anything you got, Doc," Xander said, after which she gave him another vial of pills, which Xander immediately downed one. Then he went to sit on one of the beds and waited for the drug to take effect.

"Is it that bad?" Mayan asked, "Going Super Saiyan?"

"Like driving nails into the soul of the tree of pain," Xander said as he stared ahead, then he noticed her confused look, "Yeah."

"How come?" Mayan asked curious, "It doesn't hurt for me. Or Trunks for that matter."

"Maybe because I'm not a real Saiyan?" Xander replied.

"Neither am I," Mayan retorted, "As you may know both Trunks and me are half human, half Saiyan."

"Which is all fine and dandy," Xander said, "But you're a first generation half-breed. I on the other hand only have some great-great-great-great grandparent umpteen times removed somewhere in my family tree and I suspect the Saiyan gene has been watered down quite considerably. If you're a glass of lemonade, then I'm the stuff that you get once you continue to add water to the mix, by the bucket load.

Xander leaned backwards on the bed and closed his eyes.

"I don't think I was ever supposed to go Super," he said wistfully, then he sighed, "Stupid spell! I think I'm going to rest for a moment."

"I see," Mayan said and turned around, then she saw the doctor look at her oddly.

"What?" she asked.

"Did I hear correctly?" the doctor spoke, "That you are a Saiyan-Human hybrid?"

"Yeah, so what?" she said defiantly.

"Can I run some tests?" the doctor said with just a hint of eagerness.

"I…, uh…," Mayan stammered, then behind her Xander began to snigger.

"You just became her lab monkey," Xander singsonged with a slight smile on his lips.

Mayan wanted to say something that involved a lot of obscenities regarding his parentage, but then she remembered that he would probably agree with those. So she sighed.

"Fine," she sighed, "But only a few tests."

"Just sit over here," the doctor said as she patted one of the beds. So Mayan walked over and sat down on the bed.

"I wanna take some blood and tissue samples and then do some quick scans," the doctor said excited.

"Whatever," Mayan said as she rolled up the sleeve on her battle armor.

As she let the SGC doctor probe her Mayan turned to Xander again.

"Xander, can I ask you a question?" she said.

"Whatever they said, I didn't do it!" Xander replied.

"No, seriously," Mayan said.

Xander pretended to think for a moment.

"Shoot," he finally said.

"What's their relation?" she asked. Causing Xander to open an eye and look at her.

"Who?" he asked somewhat puzzled.

"Buf…., my sister. And my father," Mayan asked, "What kind of relation do they have? It seems….., odd?"

"Don't you mean strange?" Xander said, "Bizarre? Twisted? The mother wigload?"

"Yeah, all of those," Mayan said excitedly, "I just can't get a hold of it but it seems to go above and beyond what's normal."

"Then again, what is normal?" Xander shrugged.

"You know what I mean!" Mayan said slightly annoyed. But before Xander could respond the SGC doctor interrupted.

"I can't take a blood sample," she said as she held up a hypodermic syringe with a completely bent needle, "I can't even get through your skin."

She had been so engrossed in her conversation with Xander that Mayan hadn't even noticed the doctor trying to stick a needle in her arm.

"Sorry, Doc," she said, "I'll lower my power even further."

Which she did and the doctor was finally able to insert a new syringe and draw blood.

"We don't get it either," Xander said as he continued their conversation, "Giles probably knows him best of all and he thinks it's a combination of things. You have to understand though, this guy lived for thousands of years on Medieval World and during that time developed some serious issues. There's the sister he adored and which got tragically killed. Which he was sworn to protect by his own father. There's the wife he once had and which never gave him any kids, even though they desperately wanted them. There's the lifetime of guilt over what he had done as a Saiyan. That's always a hoot."

"And then one day he meets this girl, this magnificent girl, who's destined to fight a short brutal life and then die alone, friendless, forgotten. Who has some serious daddy abandonment issues and a really big case for older men. He takes pity on her and to his shock he finds that not only does he start to care for her, she actually reminds him of the sister he once had and swore to protect. Thus kicks in planet Pocket Protector Overdrive."

"She finds out that she likes having this new father figure in her life. Sure, he's not perfect. A tad over protective when it comes to her 'undead' boyfriends and he's got more secrets ready to come out and bite us up the ass then the whole of Washington DC combined. But at least she's got a father again that cares about her. And she realizes that there's nothing he won't do for if it really matters to her. And that is the biggest responsibility she has to shoulder of her entire life. Last year they went through the big giant cock ring below and some serious shit happened. I still don't have a clue as to what exactly happened except that it was big and that it made their bond even stronger then it already was."

Janet Frasier, whilst busy taking samples, overheard the conversation and she knew what had happened last year, how the Saiyan Belmovekk had attacked several planets and exterminated its inhabitants. She wanted to speak up and tell of this atrocity but then she saw Daniel, who was also listening in, shake his head and signaling her not to. There had been much speculation about the nature of the relationship between the Slayer and the Saiyan and this sudden open banter was like hitting paydirt.

"So it's some kind of weird mutual dependency thing?" Mayan meanwhile asked Xander.

"You could call it like that," Xander nodded after he had mulled it over, "Each fills in that which the other needs."

"I see," Mayan said as she contemplated what she had heard.

"But there's another thing," Xander said as he sat up straight and leaned towards the bed that Mayan was on, "This is strictly my own theory though. But I think it's just as good as anything else."

"Shoot the shit," Mayan said.

"I think it was fated," Xander said dead serious.

"What do you mean, fated," Mayan asked as she made a confused face, "Like in pre-ordained? Meant to happen?"

"The very same," Xander nodded, then he began to smile, "I think the drugs are kicking in, I feel….., great?"

"That's ridiculous," Mayan retorted, "There's no such thing as fate."

"Says the girl who only exist because two cosmic karmas banded together and sent Belmovekk from his Medieval World to this place where he so happened to meet her mother and got her pregnant. If that's not fate, what is?"

"Coincidence?" Mayan bit back, "Or are you one of those people who thinks there's no coincidence."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, sweetie," Xander grinned as he reclined on the bed again, "While I know coincidence exists, I also know that fate exists. I was the guy who derailed a thousand year old prophecy that said that Buffy was going to die. I used to be in your camp."

"Then what happened?" Mayan asked curious, "What changed your mind?"

"Your father did," Xander said, "Him and those two Necessities, who until now had been playing cosmic dice in their part of the universe. Oh, those two can be meddlesome. You wouldn't believe half the crap they pulled on us. Probably because of them I now need painkillers. Because of them I even began to grow a blasted tail. And I now believe it was them that led me and Angel into the lair of the Master to save Buffy. Like I said, your father and your sister meeting was fated. Fated by them. And it wouldn't do if one didn't show up cause of severe case of death now would it?"

"That's the second time I've heard of those Necessities," Mayan said, "What are they?"

Xander was about to tell when suddenly the alarms started to glare.

"Ah," he said instead, "Showtime!"

x

* * *

x

To the horror of Cobra Leader, head of the Prometheus' attack wing, Cell was indeed heading towards the SGC. And there was nothing he could do about it. Not only had he and his wingmen already launched their nuclear missiles, their attack had failed. Now all that they could do was tail the creature from a safe distance and warn the SGC what was coming for them.

x

* * *

x

"He's coming in fast," Tech-Sergeant Walters yelled frantically. Behind him General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill watched on.

"I guess this means its crunch time," the general said, then he looked at O'Neill, "What do you think, Jack?"

"Fight or flight, sir," O'Neill said steadfast, "Either we fight him or we bend over, take it like a San Franciscan and let him use our Stargate."

"He took out the Prometheus in no time, Jack," Hammond said, "I don't think we can put up much of a better fight."

"I have no desire to bend over and spread my cheeks, sir," O'Neill smiled, "And I don't like San Francisco either."

The general looked at O'Neill for a moment, then he began to chuckle.

"Then we are in agreement," he said.

x

* * *

x

As Cell made his final descent towards the Cheyenne Mountain complex several chess pieces were put into place to give him a warm welcome.

A very warm welcome.

Arranged in four strategic locations around the Cheyenne Mountain complex were four separate installations, each housing a copy of the same Goa'uld main gun that had been installed in the Prometheus. These had the greatest range. And they opened up first.

Considering that the same gun alone had failed attacking Cell before, it was therefore decided to concentrate all four batteries and fire simultaneously using an algorithm written by Samantha Carter.

The resulting light show lit up the sky and was seen up from the Lookout.

"Holy Crap," Tien exclaimed as he watched from the edge of the Tenka bowl, "That's some fire works."

"It won't stop Cell though," Piccolo said, then he looked over his shoulder towards the Room of Time and Space, "Now might be a good time for you to come out, Goku."

x

* * *

x

"He's still coming!" Walters yelled frantically in the SGC control room.

"Secondary batteries, open fire," O'Neill said.

x

* * *

x

All over the Cheyenne Mountain complex there were a large number of innocuous buildings that saw little to no use. Many large bases had such buildings, as priorities shifted with new technical developments, units that used them got disbanded or transferred out, or they just fell through the administrative cracks. In the end as long as they weren't in the way it was more expedient to just ignore them then do something about them.

It also meant some of these buildings were perfect to hide more then a dozen Technadyne Mk.2 railguns, built by a subdivision of Capsule Corp. no less. These were designed for the Prometheus and upcoming Daedalus class battlecruisers for close quarter combat. As nothing says 'Fuck you!' more then a depleted uranium armor piercing round being fired at you at a speed of ten miles per second.

So as Cell finally got in range the base's railguns, designed to rip Goa'uld ship to shreds, began sending a lot of solid love towards Cell. That and the continued firing by the four main guns created an even bigger fireworks spectacle then the one before.

Maybe it was because it was overwhelming Cell, or maybe because he found the depleted uranium armor piercing rounds more annoying, while he ignored the larger main guns, as he passed by Cell lashed out at the rail guns and began destroying them one at a time.

x

* * *

x

"We've lost battery number nine," Tech-Sergeant Walters yelled.

"That makes eight," O'Neill said to General Hammond, "At this rate we're out of them in less then a minute."

"I don't think we have less then a minute," General Hammond said, then the intercom began to glare.

"Cell has breached the perimeter," a voice yelled frantically over the intercom, with gunfire in the background, "I repeat, Cell has breached the perimeter."

"Like I said, less then a minute," Hammond said, then he picked up a phone and spoke into it, "This is General Hammond, we have a reverse Foothold situation, I repeat, we have a reverse Foothold situation. Execute case omega, I repeat, execute case omega."

x

* * *

x

Still above the waters of the Pacific Trunks and Vegeta were still fighting when Trunks suddenly noticed that Cell's chi became a little harder to detect, akin to somebody going underground. Which meant that by now his worst fears had come to pass.

Something had to be done. And fast!

"ENOUGH!" Trunks yelled as waved his hand and unleashed a wall of chi between him and his father, allowing him to disengage, "This fighting is getting the both of us nowhere."

Taken aback momentarily by this new development Vegeta then raised an eyebrow and began to smirk.

"Does this mean that you're finally coming to your senses boy?" he said in a derogatory fashion, "Are you going to do the smart thing and stand aside?"

"If by standing aside you mean being an ass and risk the safety of the world, then never," Trunks said defiantly.

Vegeta held up both arms and waved around him.

"Then what's the point?" he said derisively.

"You know perfectly well as I do that Cell's attacking the SGC, father," Trunks said pointing to the east.

"About bloody time," Vegeta snorted as he folded his arms across his chest, "Took him long enough."

"So you did knew!" Trunks exclaimed pointing towards Vegeta, "It was you! You told Cell where to go and look."

"I might have something to do with that," Vegeta shrugged calmly.

"Well, he's there now and he's not going to find that android there," Trunks said, then he began to smile, smirk even in a mirror image of his own father, "By now Belmovekk's taken Android #18 of this planet, who knows where. Even if Cell's going after them, there's a lot of destinations where they could hide. He may not find them in time before Go…., no, Kakarot comes out of the Room of Spirit and Time."

"He'll beat the truth out of the Earthers, so get to the point!" Vegeta said, his good mood ruined by mere mention of his arch rival's name. Trunks smirk deepened as he cupped his chin and used one finger to tap his nose.

"Suppose he did manage to find Android #18 amongst the stars and becomes perfect," Trunks said sly, "What makes you think he'll come back to play with you, father?"

Vegeta raised another eyebrow.

"He's going to be all out there," Trunks said as he pointed towards the sky, "Anywhere, everywhere, with a whole galaxy to play with. He might not care to come back and face poor little Vegeta."

Damn him! It suddenly damned upon Vegeta that his son might actually be right.

"What do you propose?" Vegeta said somewhat hurriedly.

"A truce," Trunks said, "We stop fighting and go after him. If he goes through the Stargate we go after him. Once he finds Android #18 all bets are off again, but until then we stop our fight."

Vegeta said nothing for a while, merely staring icily at Trunks.

"What's it going to be, father," Trunks smirked, "You know perfectly well as I do that these soldiers stand no chance in hell of stopping Cell. He's already entered the mountain. Soon it will be too late."

"Fine! Truce it is," Vegeta said angrily, but then he held up his hand and with it one finger, "But if you double-cross me before Cell finds that windup doll your suffering shall be legendary."

x

* * *

x

Using some of the same gathered (or stolen) technology with which they had equipped the Prometheus the SGC tried to defend itself from Cell's evil ministrations. A series of independently powered forcefields had been installed to control or deny access or exit to anybody coming from or going to the Stargate. Each force field had its own naquadah reactor that allowed for a full day of sustained use.

Unfortunately they failed to stop Cell or even slowed him down in the slightest. He just walked through them like they weren't even there, causing the independent generators to use so much energy that they burned through their naquadah supplies in milliseconds rather then a day.

So it was up to the troops stationed at the base to offer resistance. Using anything from regular issues M-16's and P-90's to captured zat'ni'kitel handguns, to staff guns and even staff cannons. In the end it availed to nothing though as all it did was getting a lot of soldiers killed.

The minute amount of time it bought could hardly be worth the effort. So it was up to others to offer a real form of resistance. Like the two that accompanied Daniel Jackson.

As the reports came in through the intercom Xander and Mayan had a good idea what was going on, even if the various names of sectors being hit meant nothing to them. Just that the shit was hitting the fan somewhere and that the shit was really big.

Demanding that Daniel took them to the nearest choke point Daniel led the twosome through the various corridors until he came upon a central esplanade, a large fairly broad corridor that had a lot of elevators and freight elevators empty onto it.

"Are you sure this is the only way in?" Mayan asked as they halted in front of the many lift doors.

"I'm positive," Daniel said, "Only these lifts connect the central SGC complex from the upper one where Cell is. If he's coming it will be through one of these elevators."

"Then this will be the place," Xander said, then he turned around and yelled at some soldiers who were erecting a barricade behind them, "Go away. You're not going to stop Cell, you'll only get yourselves killed. And only get in our way."

Those last six words he said softly.

Of course the soldiers made no signs of abandoning their work on their barricade.

"Maybe you should make a phone call," Xander said to Daniel as he held his thumb and pinkie to his ear and mouth, "Once Cell gets here they'll only get killed, and possibly get us killed as well."

Before Daniel could say anything Major Carter and half a dozen men, all of them obviously having received chi training came around the corner.

"Daniel," Carter said surprised as she saw Daniel Jackson close to the elevators, "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently helping to recreate the Alamo," Daniel said as Sam approached, "They want to make a stand here."

"What, here?" Sam said bewildered.

"He told us this was the natural choke point," Mayan said.

Major Carter looked at the twosome, then she came to what seems to be a conclusion.

"Can you two hold off Cell for fifteen minutes?" she asked them.

"Lady, I'd be hard pressed to stop Cell for fifteen seconds," Mayan snorted incredulously.

"Once he gets here I can give you five minutes," Xander said holding up five fingers, "Ten max if we play our cards right."

"That's not enough," Carter said, obviously not liking what she was hearing, "I need more time."

"I'd love to give you fifteen minutes, major," Xander said stone faced, "But it's just not going to happen."

Biting her lip for a moment, Major Carter thought things over for a few seconds.

"Fine," she finally said, "Do what you can."

"Oh, we will," Xander said.

"Good luck," Major Carter said, then she pointed to the elevator door that was furthest away, "Let's take that one."

As Major Carter went to the door that was furthest away one of the soldiers turned to Xander.

"I don't know if you remember me, Spencer's the name," the soldier said, "But I was at the Battle of Sunnydale."

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you," Xander said shaking his head.

"No harm done," the soldier smiled, then he held out his hand towards Xander, "If you're going to stand up to Cell you've got balls of American steel, Mr. Harris. Please do me the honor of shaking your hand?"

Xander took the man's extended hand and together they shook hands. The soldier then let go and gave Xander and Mayan a military salute.

"Belmovekk's Bastards!" he said, then he ran after the others.

"What was that all about?" Mayan asked curious to which Xander shrugged in response.

"Just a friendly face from the old days."

"You said you didn't recognize him," Mayan countered, to which Xander again shrugged.

"If he was with us at the Battle of Sunnydale, that's friendly enough for me."

x

* * *

x

"Wait a second!"

Just as the elevator doors were about to close on Major Carter and her escort party Daniel Jackson jumped through the doors.

"Daniel?" Carter said surprised, "What are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you," the archaeologist smiled as the doors closed behind him.

"Daniel, we're going up!" Carter said in a mixture of both concern and annoyance, "It's not safe there. Cell's up there."

"And he's going down," Daniel said unimpressed, "There's no such thing as a safe place to be."

Sam wanted to say something, then she didn't.

"Fair enough," she said.

"So where are we going?" Daniel asked.

"You know where we're going," Carter replied, "My lab, remember?"

"Let me rephrase that," Daniel said as he put his hands together, " _Why_ are we going there?"

Before Sam could answer a loud noise reverberated through the elevator shafts, followed by the sound of metal being torn apart.

"He's here," on of the soldiers said.

"Of course he is," the soldier who had greeted Xander said, "But is he in our shaft?"

KLANG!

A loud noise came of cables snapping, followed by the sound of an elevator cart dropping, then crashing at the bottom.

"I guess that answers it," Sam said, then she put a small radio to her face, "Carter here, Cell has breached the second tier, I repeat, Cell has breached the second tier."

x

* * *

x

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Mayan railed against Xander, "We don't stand a chance in hell of stopping Cell for five minutes, let alone ten."

"Well, we have too," Xander said resolute, "You heard the lady, she needs time. She's got a plan."

"And without even asking what you just commit us to fighting Cell for ten minutes," Mayan continued, "Did your parents drop you on your head when you born or something."

"Hey, the lady's the brains of this outfit," Xander said just a little annoyed at Mayan's outburst, "She's like Will and Bulma rolled into one. She's wicked smart. If she's got a plan then its up to us knuckleheads to buy her the time that she needs.

"That's a lot of things to take on faith," Mayan said unconvinced.

"I'm not a religious person," Xander shrugged, "But sometimes all you got to roll with is faith."

"I'm not big on faith," Mayan said, "It's not something that's still abundant where I'm from. Faith will get you killed."

"Fair enough," Xander said.

"This brings me to the next part of your masterplan," Mayan continued, "How on Earth are we going to stall Cell for ten minutes?"

Before Xander could reply there was a loud noise coming from one of the elevator shafts.

KLANG!

Cell was coming.

A thousand thoughts went through Mayan's head. Why on Earth had she volunteered to come along for this? She wasn't ready for this. She shouldn't even be here. Why had she….

Before she could finish her train of thought Xander grabbed her head, turned it towards his, then he pressed his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry," he said apologetic, "we don't have the time to do this gently."

Then he closed his eyes and Mayan felt something assault her mind. Before she had the chance to raise her mental defences images and ideas began to flood her mind.

CRASH!

As the elevator cart hit rock bottom Xander opened his eyes and disengaged.

"It's called Radi'itsu," he said as he let go of her, "It's a Saiyan martial arts style. I dumped everything I know about it in your brains."

Then Xander yelled and transformed, sending waves of yellow chi through the corridor. Next thing Mayan transformed as well.

Then, just seconds before a loud tearing noise announced Cell's arrival on this level Xander turned towards the soldiers manning the impromptu barricade behind them. Staring at them with cold blue-green eyes Xander yelled at them.

"Its probably better if you guys be somewhere else!"

x

* * *

x

As the elevator opened Daniel, Carter and the accompanying SG-43 made their way across the carnage that was the upper level. Wreckage and debris littered the corridors, together with bodies everywhere. Most were dead, torn apart in gruesome ways. But occasionally they came upon somebody who was still alive and crying for help.

"Help me!" a soldier cried out desperately as they passed him. But they couldn't. The mission was imperative. While Cell had passed to the central tier there was still the possibility he could return before Sam had finished her mission.

Going as fast as they could the group made it through the corridors when they made for a right turn.

And walked straight into four M-16's and a zat'ni'kitel aimed at them.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" both sides screamed frantically.

Then, tentatively one of the M-16's lowered.

"Major Carter?" the soldier behind the gun said incredulously.

"Stand down soldier," Major Carter said.

"Is it over?" the weary soldier said, "Is it really over, major?"

Before Carter could reply the SGC shook on its foundations, causing pieces of concrete to fall from the ceiling and a fire extinguisher to rattle lose.

"He's coming back!" the soldier said scared and he and his comrades began to aim their guns again, only this time past Carter and her group.

"No he's not, soldier," Carter yelled, then she pointed diagonally below, "He's down there, not up here."

"Are you sure?" another soldier said frightened, just as another tremor rocked the SGC, "Cause our weapons just bounce off him. There's nothing we could do…."

"I might be able to do something," Carter said as she put her hand on one of the M-16's and pushed the gun aside, "But I have to get to my lab."

The soldiers looked forlorn for a moment, then the first one stepped aside and the group could pass.

As they walked past the armed soldiers they came upon more of them, most of them injured from light to heavy. Others were simple techs caught in the middle of the fighting. All of them looked like they had been through Hell and then some, the fabled thousand miles stare.

"Well, at least we now know that not everybody's dead," Daniel said as he tried to be upbeat.

"I just hope my lab's in one piece," Carter said hurried, "Otherwise this has all been for nothing."

A few more corridors later they found, much to their relief, that Carter's lab was still intact. As the soldiers of SG-43 took up station outside Carter and Daniel went inside. Amidst the many workbenches and testing stations Carter went to one that was furthest in the corner.

There, standing on top of the workbench, was a large oval shaped device.

"Get me that naquadah reactor," Carter said pointing to a portable naquadah reactor in another corner. As Daniel went to get it Carter put the laptop that she had been holding on the workbench and began running cables to and from the device.

"Here," Daniel said as he put the small reactor on the workbench, "Anything else you need?"

Another tremor rocked the SGC to its core.

"How about getting me some more time?" Carter said grim faced.

x

* * *

x

SMACK!

As Cell's fist pounded through a wall, Mayan was already busy dropping to the floor. Not from getting hit by Cell, nor because she possessed the speed to evade his blows. It was because she had anticipated his move and began to move before he had made his.

It wasn't because she had gotten good all of a sudden. Then again maybe it was.

Of all the Saiyan martial arts disciplines, Radi'itsu, was the hardest to pull off. Named after a small snake eating predator in the Gizegh highlands, who made a living eating off snakes far larger and more dangerous then it was, Radi'itsu was like Cumbri'itsu, only different.

If Cumbri'itsu was like Aikido, keeping up a strong defense while using your opponents strengths and weaknesses against him, Radi'itsu was Aikido taking the maxim the best defense is a good offense at heart. Cause sometimes there was no time waiting for the right opportunity to strike back. Sometimes you had to make shit up on the fly.

Especially when you were fighting an eight foot giant that outclassed you so much it wasn't funny anymore.

More then Cumbri'itsu Radi'itsu had whole katas and forms devoted to fighting a stronger fighter then yourself. And win!

Of course not even the greatest Radi'itsu masters had envisioned the kind of power difference that both Mayan and Xander faced while fighting Cell.

Still, unlike the great Radi'itsu masters of old, Mayan and Xander weren't fighting to win, they were just trying to buy time. And for that Radi'itsu was well suited. The wily radi'itsu, on which the martial arts style was based, was a master in coming up with clever and inventive stratagems on the fly to catch its prey.

Unfortunately for Mayan Xander wasn't an expert on Radi'itsu, and neither was Belmovekk, who never made it past the 12th level. Enough to be a master, but not enough to be a grand master. Maybe a grand master with their level power could fight Cell to a standstill, but not them.

Of course Xander knew this when he dumped his knowledge of Radi'itsu into her brain, for which she was going to have a stiff heart to heart with him after this. And while he himself had used Radi'itsu with great success in the past while sparring against her much stronger sister he also knew he wasn't good enough to take on Cell with his vast repertoire of stolen techniques.

But Radi'itsu had one other advantage over the other styles, and that was exactly why Xander chose to give her that knowledge. It had forms dedicated to close quarter fighting in tight confined areas and using that to your advantage.

Like this corridor they were currently fighting in.

The downside of Radi'itsu was that it was incredibly mentally exhausting. That's why it had never caught on. Yeah it was flashy enough to appeal to the Saiyan looking for something to impress, but the constant mental agility required to be ten steps ahead of your opponent and reacting before he did caused most Saiyans to opt for easier styles instead.

So as they fought Cell together Mayan wondered how long it would last before she would collapse from sheer mental exhaustion. Cause at this rate she sure wasn't going to last for five minutes, let alone ten.

It had started well though.

As the doors to the central elevator got ripped open Cell came through. Only to see two Super Saiyans standing there. Be it Mayan's bright golden hue versus Xander's extremely dull golden hue. A quick glance at Xander showed he was taking quicker breaths.

"Are you alright?" she whispered as Cell ripped some more metal apart to step through.

"I'm fine," Xander whispered back, "I'm high as a kite and I still feel like I'm in a pain amplifier. But at least it's no longer on 11."

"YOU!" Cell thundered as he looked at Xander, "You again? Come back for a pounding?"

"I just figured we were due for a rematch you and I," Xander said casually.

"Your arrogance astounds me," Cell sneered as he left the elevator shaft.

"Funny coming from you," Xander said with a growing smirk, "I recall that a certain Saiyan taught you some pretty hard lessons, until he changed sides that is."

"Vegeta?" Cell said, then he looked at Xander appraisingly, "Yeah that was a shock. But not for long. And your presence here is proof of that. You couldn't beat me before I absorbed #17, you stand even less of a chance now. Your arrogance cannot disguise that this is a last ditch effort basically."

"Maybe," Xander shrugged unimpressed, then he made a gesture towards Mayan, "but she might have something to say about it. Trunks could kick your ass, and she's his girlfriend. She'll kick your ass so hard you wish you had sat down on Fusili Jerry instead."

Then Cell looked at Mayan.

"I saw you in Leavenworth," Cell said, "I sensed great power in you then. But nothing like Trunks. Unless something radical has happened I don't think you are as strong as Trunks is."

"It's your ass," Xander said deadpan.

"She's welcome to try," Cell said as he began to smirk. Then he lashed out with his fist and moved with lightning fast speed towards her face.

The attack came so fast that Mayan wasn't even able to follow it. And yet the knowledge that Xander had dumped into her brain allowed her to react just in time and duck. Tiny minute details like the way certain muscles tensed told her that an attack was imminent and almost without thinking she found herself starting to move.

"Wonderful," Cell grunted annoyed as he hit empty air, "another one."

The fight then rapidly degenerated in a two on one, where Xander and Mayan tried to use superior techniques against Cell's raw power. And for now it seemed like they were holding their own.

But superior technique only took you so far when the difference in power was as absurdly ridiculous as it was with them. Especially with a fighter like Cell who had an absurdly ridiculous capability to absorb any kind of punishment that they could dish out.

As they got pushed deeper and deeper into the SGC they managed to at least accomplish something. As long as Cell was busy fighting them he wasn't busy slaughtering the base's military and civilians.

x

* * *

x

"Incredible," O'Neill said as he watched the fight on the monitors using Carter's stop motion algorithm, then he looked at General Hammond, "I can dig the girl as she's half Saiyan, but how certain was Davis that that kid was human?"

"After what happened in El Paso Davis went the extra mile to find out and he still found nothing extraordinary," Hammond said.

"Was he thorough?" O'Neill asked.

"I've got his original birth certificate on file," Hammond said, "Including sworn testimony of the attending nurse.

"I see," O'Neill said as he looked at the monitors again, "I guess it doesn't really matter much. They're losing ground rapidly. Soon they'll reach the lower level."

x

* * *

x

That moment happened sooner then O'Neill feared.

There comes a point that no matter how big a box of chocolates you get, you're going to hit the bottom at some point. That same thing applied to Xander's box of Saiyan tricks. Cause Cell was like the Borg. Sooner or later he adapted to what you were doing and you had to reach for a new trick.

Of course it didn't help that unlike Xander Mayan hadn't never trained for these new martial arts techniques.

So it came as no surprise that eventually she eventually made a mistake. Maybe it was Cell catching on to their game, maybe it was because knowing something doesn't mean you're automatically good at it, maybe it was mental fatigue from constantly trying to be ten steps ahead of Cell and reading his movements. Or maybe it was all of the three combined. Whatever it was, she did it.

And Cell ruthlessly caught on to her mistake.

Knocking her to the ground Cell was finally able to break the working flow between Xander and Mayan. It was that working flow that had prevented Cell from bringing down his full force on either of them, keeping him off balance. But now that that working balance was disrupted Cell could use his superior speed and for a moment bring it to bear on Xander.

SMACK!

A massive blow to his chest sent Xander flying backwards down a corridor, through a heavily reinforced steel door and then crashing into a room in a cloud of dust and debris.

Now that he only faced Mayan Cell began to grin and pound away at her defenses. And without Xander to distract him she now had to bear the brunt of his attacks.

To her credit she lasted for some fifteen seconds before Cell ground her down, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against a wall. As she clawed in vain at the hand that was holding her Cell leaned over and looked into her eyes closely.

"Nice try," Cell said ruefully, "but as the saying goes, close but no cigar?"

"Fuck you!" Mayan said defiantly. Not very loudly of course cause of Cell's stranglehold on her, but still.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Cell said shaking his head, "Such ill manners of one so young. Did they not teach you to defer to those who are better then you?"

"I only live to screw those who are better then me," Mayan hissed, "so screw you, screw Gero and screw everything he stands for!"

"No wonder society's going down the drain," Cell said pityingly, "A well, I guess I'll do humanity a favor when I destroy them. Now tell me, where did #18 go?"

"Fuck yo….," Mayan tried to say but Cell squeezed her so hard she couldn't speak anymore.

"Yeah I know you're a rude foul mouthed little girl," Cell said calmly, "But I have no time to tolerate your ill manners. So here's the deal, tell me where #18 is and I shall kill you quickly. Don't and I'll just absorb you and learn of her whereabouts regardless."

To illustrate his point Cell's needle tipped tail began taking aim at Mayan's chest.

"I would never tell you, monster," Mayan said as Cell stopped squeezing enough for her to speak again, "Even if I did know where she was. But since I don't I can safely say that you'll never get your tail on her, you buttmunch. Even if you go through the gate, there's like a million destinations she could hide. And they keep on going, and going, and going, and go….."

Cell cut her off as he squeezed her throat shut again.

"I see," Cell said absentminded as he looked away, pondering what he had just heard. If it was true then there was indeed no way for him to find where Android #18 had been taken.

"NO! THIS CANNOT BE!" Cell thundered in frustrated anger, "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!"

Still pinned to the wall Mayan tried to snigger at Cell's wails of frustration. But Cell didn't even notice it.

There had to be something he could do, Cell thought frantically, something which allowed him to snatch victory still from defeat? Surely they would have a means to contact the ones taking Android #18 that things either weren't safe, or that he had been dealt with. There had to be a means for them to contact each other. And if the girl didn't know it, then by all likelihood the people running this facility did.

"Tell me whe….," Cell said, only to notice that somebody was standing in front of him.

It was the kid he had knocked out earlier.

And he had build up a huge energy attack, flickering around two fingers in front of his face.

"Get away from her you bitch!" Xander yelled, then he aimed the two fingers at Cell, "MAKANKOSAPO!"

The incredibly powerful corkscrew attack hit Cell at almost point-blank range, knocked him backwards, then blew right threw him, spiraling through his chest.

As Cell fell to the ground he let go off Mayan and she fell on her hands and knees. Reaching for her neck with one hand she looked first at Cell, then at Xander.

"Is it over?" she asked bewildered.

Xander didn't immediately respond, instead he wearily walked over towards Cell, then he tapped Cell's foot with his.

"I'm not sure," he said tentatively, "If it is it seems rather, anti-climactic."

Mayan looked at him, then at Cell's seemingly lifeless body.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" she agreed.

Then one of the toes of Cell's body began to twitch.

"We have to get out of here," Xander said as he helped Mayan to her feet. Then he pulled her behind him as he ran away, towards the elevators to the lower tier.

As they boarded an elevator and pressed for down Mayan looked at Xander.

"What the hell was that?" she asked shaken, "I thought you killed that thing?"

"He's got Piccolo's DNA," Xander said as he looked up to the elevator's ceiling.

"So?" Mayan asked.

"He can regenerate parts of himself, remember?," Xander said.

"Yeah, maybe an arm or a leg, but not a case of fatal chest wound," Mayan countered, "You shot right through him!"

"And if it were anyone else but Cell then I would agree," Xander said grim, "But I've seen demons survive shit that would kill a herd of elephants. Sometimes the only way to be sure is total annihilation."

"So what's next?" Mayan asked.

"We fight on," Xander said, then he suddenly began to giggle, "I feel surprisingly giddy," Xander giggled.

"It must be the drugs," Mayan said, to which Xander responded by giggling even more.

"Mmmm, drugilicious," Xander smiled from ear to ear.

Next thing the doors opened and Xander and Mayan were greeted by a dozen assault riffles and zat'ni'kitels aimed at their faces.

Slowly Xander raised his hands in the air.

"Take me to your leader," he said deadpan.

"The eagles have arrived, sir," one of the soldiers spoke into a wireless headset", upon which the soldiers lowered their guns.

Next thing a loud ominous hum suddenly went on over their heads.

"What's that?" Mayan asked as she looked up, the sound coming up from somewhere above them.

"That's the main shield, miss," the soldier said.

"What makes you think its any more successful then the others?" Xander asked.

"Because its powered by the main generator, the same one that powers the gate."

x

* * *

x

For several minutes the sound of explosions happening deep underground rocked the base, making Daniel quite nervous as Sam continued to work unperturbed on her device.

"I think it's over," Daniel said worried, then he checked his watch, "They still managed to give us twelve minutes though.

"Then let's make sure their sacrifice wasn't in vain," Sam said as she stepped back from the device and her laptop and knelt next to the small reactor, "Here goes nothing!"

Then she switched the reactor on.

x

* * *

x

As Cell descended down the elevator shaft he was in a terrible foul mood. That kid had shot right through him. He had recovered of course, thanks to Piccolo's DNA contribution. But it still didn't sit right though. Several pounds of flesh needed to be exacted. The kid's flesh that is.

As he came down Cell suddenly noticed a shimmering field below him. One that he had seen before since coming to this base. It was another shield.

"Close but no cigar," Cell said as he continued on.

Only this time, unlike before, the shield didn't gave way, it's overloaded generator shutting down. This time it actually halted him.

"Something stronger, huh," Cell said somewhat impressed, then he continued to push.

In the SGC control room red lights were going off on almost every console, most worrying of all on the main technical boards.

Since the generator keeping up the shield between Cell and the lower tier was none other then the base main generator itself, the one powering the Stargate, it could draw upon considerably more power then the smaller generators that had failed.

But unfortunately nothing the SGC had encountered in its existence could prepare it for an entity like Cell. As Cell pushed against the shield, engineers in engineering began to panic as the base main generator was being pushed to the breaking point. It just wasn't meant to take this kind of abuse.

First thing everything non-essential was shut down, dousing the SGC in the red lights of the backup generator. As more and more things got shut down, re-routing every possible bit of available power towards the shield, O'Neill wished he could rout the power of the backup generator to it as well. But for that he needed the help of Carter, who happened to be elsewhere. And it wasn't like the backup generator provided that much extra power compared to the main generator.

But hey, waste not, want not, right?

"Please hold dammit," O'Neill said looking at a power read out, "please hold!"

x

* * *

x

Similar sentiments were being felt and expressed among the soldiers surrounding Xander and Mayan.

In the end it was to no avail though as SGC engineers had to chose between a critical overload that could blow up half the base or shutting down the generator. Although in the end they had little choice in the matter as it was the generator's fail safe override that made the decision for them.

No sound or tremor announced the collapse of the shield. But a loud bang of metal being compacted, then torn apart did announce Cell's arrival in the lower tier.

And then the doors got ripped open and Cell entered the lower tier, facing the gathered soldiers, Xander and Mayan.

"Leave!" Xander yelled as he assumed a fighting stance, his chi flames erupting brightly around him, as did Mayan's.

But then something strange happened.

An unseen wave of energy rippled through the base.

It came from Carter's lab where her device finally began to work, sending out waves of energy that undulated through the SGC base.

Energy that operated on a strange level, based by two years of research ever since the SGC started doing research on chi and the art of chi fighting.

Research that had culminated in Carter's prototype device.

A device designed to operate on a cellular level and disrupt the build up of chi.

A device that suddenly drained energy from every chi fighter in the SGC and beyond.

A device that caused some drop of power for Cell

A device that knocked out the winds, literally and figuratively out of Xander and Mayan.

As their chi flames died down their energy dwindled rapidly to the point that they could no longer maintain their Super Saiyan status.

"Ow crap," Xander said as he looked at his own hands, then at Mayan, who looked equally horrified. Then he looked at Cell, who seemed unaffected, his chi flames still burning bright.

"Truce?"

x

* * *

x

As the shockwave of Carter's device erupted all around her it was noticed by Vegeta and Trunks as they neared the SGC.

"What the hell is that?" Vegeta said as he halted mid air. To their senses they could barely see something ahead of them, something that undulated and caused the air to shimmer in front of them.

"I don't know," Trunks said uncertain, "It must be coming from the base."

Vegeta glared briefly at Trunks.

"If I wanted to hear someone state the obvious I might as well do it myself," he said short tempered, "Of course its coming from the base, you idiot!"

Trunks rolled his eyes briefly but said nothing for a moment.

"Well, the Stargate is down there," he finally said, "And judging by the smoke rising up Cell's inside."

"Then I guess we have no choice but to go in," Vegeta said.

"What? Into that strange energy field?" Trunks objected, causing Vegeta to again glare at him.

"No pain, no gain, boy," he said derisively, then he dove towards the base entrance. For a moment Vegeta hesitated as he entered the field, dropping a few meters, then he continued flying as normal.

"Reckless fool," Trunks muttered softly, then he followed his father.

The moment he hit the energy field it was like he was sitting inside a bathtub full of water where somebody had pulled the plug. Something was trying to drain his energy and almost instinctively Trunks tried to compensate by raising his. And while the tug of something trying to take away his energy remained, he soon found that as long as he kept up his energy he was doing fine.

Soon he landed next to his father as he stood in front of the large entrance into the mountain. To his surprise he found that there were no dead bodies littering the ground here, like he had expected.

"There are no dead?" he said surprised.

"Of course not, you idiot," Vegeta said, "even these Earthers know better then to stand up to Cell in open ground. I fully expect the base inside to be littered with them."

"Let's find out," Trunks said. Then the both of them went inside.

x

* * *

x

God he was huge, O'Neill thought as Cell slowly stepped inside the SGC control room. Next thing he dropped the two unconscious bodies of Xander and Mayan to the floor that he had been dragging along.

The moment Carter had activated what she called the chi dampening field everything had gone pear shaped. On the monitors they could see their two allies de-transform and turn normal again. In that sense it proved that the device worked. And it was what they had expected. That's why they had installed two massive staff cannons near the elevators. That and issued nearly every heavy and/or advanced weapon that they had left. And they had opened up and let Cell have it. And if Cell had lost his power as well it might have worked.

Unfortunately Cell seemed unaffected and easily deflect every attack thrown at him. Once it became clear that their plan wasn't working panic began to take root as Cell moved among the soldiers and took out their heavy weapons. In no time he was master of the field. And then he attacked the now powerless Xander and Mayan.

And that led to their current predicament.

Yeah, Cell was indeed huge, O'Neill thought as he now finally had an up close look at Cell. And ugly. Damn did that thing look alien. More alien then almost everything he had come across in all the years that he had journeyed across the Galaxy.

"Who is in charge here?" Cell said in a tone of voice that made O'Neill almost cringe.

Cringe with laughter that is.

Oh god, the most advanced technology this side of the universe to create this thing and yet the invincible monster talked with the accent of a cardboard Hollywood villain. There was irony in that.

"I am," General Hammond said as he stepped forward, "On behalf of the troops of Stargate Command I hereby offer terms of surrender on the condition that you spare the men under my command."

"Tell me where Android #18 is and I'll consider it," Cell replied.

"But I don't know that," Hammond said dead serious.

"Wrong answer," Cell said as he began to smirk. Then his tail lashed out and impaled itself on one of the technicians.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the technician cried in pain, then Cell's tail began to suck. For a moment the technician flailed his arms around, then they froze and slowly his bodily features began to melt, as more and more of the man vanished until nothing was left but an empty uniform.

"You bastard!" Hammond yelled angry, "I offered you our surrender and you…."

Hammond's tirade was cut short as Cell's spiked tail now hovered in front of him.

"I'm still considering it," Cell said calmly, "That was just to show what is in store if you don't tell me what I want to know. Tell or I'll just absorb you and take that knowledge from you the hard way."

To his credit Hammond didn't flinch.

"And I keep telling you, we don't know where Android #18 is," Hammond said dead calm, "Belmovekk took her through the gate and only God knows where he is."

"What? No rendezvous coordinates?" Cell said incredulously, "No way of letting him know that its safe to return?"

"He only said he would be back in a couple of days," O'Neill said as he stepped forward next to Hammond, "Hell, he thinks he only has to stay away for a day because then a buddy of his would come along and grind you into fine dust. Does the name Goku ring a bell?"

Cell looked at O'Neill for a moment. And as far as O'Neill was concerned it was like staring into the fiery pits of Hell itself. The only thing that unnerved him more, or maybe just as much was when he had been captured by Baal and mercilessly tortured, killed, revived and tortured again in what seemed like a forever cycle.

Then Cell looked away, staring to the large glass window that separated the control room from the gate room. Towards the Stargate itself.

x

* * *

x

As he looked at the Stargate Cell couldn't help but feel lost.

Because he had lost.

That annoying Saiyan!

That hateful Saiyan!

Curse him!

He had been outsmarted. He, the most powerful creation in existence had been outsmarted by a damn Saiyan ape. Now that his last hope had been dashed there was no way to find Android #18 in time.

When he had first met Goku, the Saiyan had hinted that in a days time he would be strong enough to crush him. It had seemed like bold hyperbole at the time, but then he came upon Vegeta and Trunks, who unlike before actually could crush him now. And their absence during the earlier fights hinted that they weren't there, just like Goku was now gone. And that asshole Saiyan actually believed that in a day Goku would be strong enough to defeat him. It was now something that he actually had to take into account.

Hell, if that were true it might even be that Vegeta would come back and finish the job he had once started, just to be on Goku's good side again!

That meant Cell now only had two options. Fight or flight. Fight and get killed or flee and hope that one day he would get his chance to absorb #18.

Neither was a very attractive prospect.

"NO! THIS CANNOT BE!" Cell roared in impotent rage as he raised his fists into air, "I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PERFECT, DAMMIT! PERFECT!"

Having vented his anger Cell suddenly noticed something.

Nobody seemed distressed or moved by his sudden show of emotion.

In fact everybody seemed like they hadn't moved at all.

As he looked around everybody seemed frozen solid, dead set in their movements.

"What the…?" Cell exclaimed as he looked around.

Then the strangest thing happened.

A vertical tear began to form on a wall between two banks of computers, then light began to pour through that crack. And then the crack opened like two sets of curtains and an opening was formed. Then something put two armored hands through to widen the opening until it was large enough. Then it stepped through.

It was a massive demon, almost as large as Cell was, heavily plated in armor and sharp spiked protrusions coming from his shoulders and head.

"Who are you?" Cell asked surprised.

"A friend," the demon smiled in a surprisingly pleasant voice.

"I don't need friends," Cell said as he aimed a hand at the demon, who inadvertently took a step backwards.

"Easy there, fellow," the demon said as he held up both hands in an imploring gesture, "I'm here to help you."

"Again, who are you?" Cell said as he began to charge an energy attack in front of his outstretched hand.

"Well, if you must know, the name's Skip," the demon said, "And I represent some friends of yours."

"Again, I don't have any friends," Cell said as the attack grew bigger.

"Kill me and you'll never know how to get to Android #18," Skip said as he closed his eyes and put his arms in front of his face, cringing at the same time.

As no attack followed Skip slowly opened his eyes and looked at Cell again.

"I'm listening," Cell said calmly, the energy attack still flickering, ready to be fired.

"Belmovekk and the others are traveling from world to world," Skip said as he held up his hand and an image of the Galaxy appeared, then it zoomed in until all that could be seen was a single star system and a planet flashing with a series of seven symbols over it, "but if you travel fast you will be able to catch them on this world. Now aren't you happy you listened?"

Cell didn't pay much attention to Skip's last words, instead he was focused on the seven symbols flashing over the planet. Having absorbed the technician he now knew what that meant. It was a gate address. He had a chance again. He was back in the race.

Looking up towards Skip he saw that the demon was retreating into the tear in the world.

"Wait!" Cell thundered, "Who are they, these friends of mine?"

"For now you don't need to know," Skip's voice said from inside the tear, "Only that they are friends of yours. Friends who want you to succeed. Powerful friends!"

Then the tear began to close until there was nothing left. And then time resumed again as the people in the control room began to move again.

"Activate the Stargate," Cell yelled at the general and his subordinate, "NOW!"

"You've got to be kidding me," the subordinate said in disbelief, "You totally wrecked the generator, we couldn't power up the gate even if we wanted too. There's no power!"

For a moment Cell looked at the subordinate with murder in his eyes.

Then he turned around and went to the console that housed the gate controls. There was no time to engage in frivolous vendetta, but thanks to absorbing that technician Cell knew exactly what to do next.

He smashed his fist through the window that separated the gate control room from the actual gate room. It was a solid bullet proof window, a foot thick, but he smashed right through it like it was of the thinnest glass. Then, as he stuck his hand through the opening and fired off a beam of energy at the Stargate he began tapping in coordinates into the gate computer with the other.

Next thing to everyone's horror the gate swung into life and began to turn.

"He's entering gate coordinates," Hammond said in shock, "But how….."

"We've got to stop him," O'Neill said.

"How?" Hammond said back, "He's already entered the coordinates into the system."

As the two commanders desperately tried to come up with something to stop Cell, the creature used his now free hand to widen the opening he had made in the window. Then he stopped feeding energy to the Stargate and wormed himself through the opening. Jumping through Cell landed in the gateroom, knocked some soldiers to the ground that stood in his way and waited for the gate to stop turning.

As soon as the seventh chevron was coded the gate erupted in a geyser of light blue energy. Which then withdrew and formed a stable event horizon. Cell ran up the ramp towards the event horizon.

There he halted for a moment and looked back. Seeing Hammond and O'Neill look at him from the gate control room he began to wave towards them.

"So long, suckers," Cell grinned towards them, then he pointed his hand towards them and created a large ball of purple energy, one that moved and undulated like it was a balloon filled with water floating in zero gravity.

"Here's something to remember me by," Cell said victoriously, then he let go off the energy attack and sent it slowly, very slowly, towards the control room, "Don't bother getting away because once this hits anything this will blow up the entire mountain."

Then Cell stepped through the Stargate and was gone.


	27. Interlude 'Passing Through Gethsemane'

**Interlude:**

' **Passing Through Gethsemane'**

x

x

AN: _I'm struggling to find words at this point. For these notes that is. As I write this not only do I have nothing of interesting to say for these author's notes, I'm also going through my own hour of the wolf right now. Luckily I am blessed with friends who are there for me and enough finished material to see you guys through while I get myself back in the saddle. Don't worry, it's just a moment, this time will pass._

x

slade42: Excellent question! My answer would be twofold. Because Aldur in the books was shown to be vehemently opposed to anything demonic. His power was used (if memory serves my right) twice to oppose demons and he stepped in once directly to smack down a Demon Lord. But in the great confrontations between the two Destinies he stayed out. So in that sense the same thing applies. The Mayor was not an agent of the potential Third Destiny so in that sense Divine Intervention was possible. Plus he also had to deputize Willow as it were as one of his disciples. Cell on the other hand is an agent of the potential Third Destiny, in which case Divine Intervention is out, and its up to the minions as it were to sort it out.

Does it make any sense? Depends on your suspension of disbelief I guess. Just like how in Lord of the Rings they could have used the Eagles to fly to Mordor. Except they were apparently busy with other things. They had yard work to do. Yeah, yard work!

x

* * *

x

A-Day+12 years, 8 months, 2 days, somewhere, sometime

x

While always hard these past months long distance trading had become even harder thanks to a steady degradation of the Android Early Warning system. More radar stations had been knocked then the Army could replace, causing more surprise attacks on unsuspecting communities and anyone traveling out in the open.

As a result not only had trade diminished, also communities had become more suspicious of traders and basically anyone traveling out in the open seeking contact or shelter.

Even the Greater San Francisco Area, the only city left in the open in the world, had put up increased guard presence and screening procedures.

So when a small caravan neared the city's borders they were greeted by the San Francisco City Guard.

The caravan leader halted his caravan and waited for the armed men to check everybody in the column. After all, it wasn't unheard off that the androids had hijacked trading caravans in the past and used them to sneak into unsuspecting communities.

If you wanted to be a trader you needed an official Army trading permit and a trading ID card. So the SFCG made sure to check everyone's ID cards. Going from buggy to buggy they checked ID's and cargo manifests, many of course destined for the city's main industry, Capsule Corp..

Finally they came upon the last buggy, the one carrying a large camouflage mottled sunscreen.

"ID cards and list of cargo," the SFCG soldier, barely in his teens, said.

"Here you are," the driver said in a surprisingly British accent as he handed over his freight documents and three sets of ID's.

The accent raised quite some eyebrows among the SFCG soldiers.

"Are you British?" the soldier asked as he studied the driver's ID card, "We don't get many of you here. Not for a long time."

"That's quite understandable," the driver said, "I was already in this country before the Fall."

"Ah," the soldier said enlightened, then he studied the others. The co-driver he could easily see, but the third person eluded him, all hidden in the back underneath the sunscreen.

"Excuse me, you have to come out," the SFCG soldier said, "I need to see your face."

"I can't," the man said hesitantly, "I have a rare condition that causes me great pain when I enter the sunlight."

"I'm sorry sir but you still have to come out," the fourteen year old said.

"Can't you shine a light on me or something," the man replied.

In response the SFCG soldiers aimed their guns at the buggy and the man in the back in particular.

"This is your last warning," the soldier said, his voice now on edge, "If you don't come out we will open fire."

"Please," the driver said as he tried to smooth things over, "let's not make any mistakes, shall we, he literally can't come out, it will kill him."

"Then he dies inside," the soldier said, sounding quite jittery at this point.

"To be honest the only ones you're going to kill will be us," the driver said, his hands in the air, "He'll be fine."

"And why's that?" the soldier asked.

"Because he's a vampire and we're not?"

x

* * *

x

Bulma Briefs was hard at work signing reports and all the other administrative paperwork that came with running the biggest manufacturing business in the world. She hated doing it, she would rather spend her free time working in her lab, but somebody had to do it. And she had at least three personal assistants doing the majority of the work for her. And still it cost her three days of the week running her business empire.

This was when she missed Willow. Aside from dabbling in black magic and running the largest occult black market enterprise behind her back Willow was the best personal assistant she'd ever had. Not only did Willow find the time to run Capsule Corp. for her, witling down her own involvement in running the business to just an afternoon per week, Willow had actually found the time to help her in the lab as well.

And care for the kids as well!

Of course she managed to do so through black magic and the total elimination of sleep.

But still, you'd think that her three personal assistants, the best she could find in the Greater San Francisco Area, the three of them could handle what Willow did on her own?

Apparently not.

So it was with great distaste that Bulma now had to shoulder more of the burden of running her company. And why she wasn't pleased when Trudy paged her telling her she had visitors.

"Not now, Trudy," she said annoyed, "I'm busy."

But then Trudy told her who their visitors were.

x

* * *

x

Mayan was busy sparring with Trunks, under Gohan's watchful eyes, in the gravity gym. They were fighting at 20 G's, which was the maximum the gravity gym could do these days. The guy maintaining the gym, Jonesy, claimed that it could do up to a 100 G and more in the old days, but that thanks to the lack of spare parts 20 was already pushing it.

In fact Jonesy argued that it had to be further limited, that it should be operated no higher then 14G's or else the gym might suffer a catastrophic hardware failure. Something about there being a serious lack of what used to be once cheap Japanese and Taiwanese semi-conductors and capacitors.

In the days when Willow ran requisitions she always managed to scrounge enough spare parts together to keep the gym running at a higher 45 G's, but her replacement was no where near as good. Plus the number of sources to get spare parts from kept steadily diminishing.

As Gohan watched on she couldn't help but think that Gohan seemed to be lost for direction where to take her training. With Trunks Sensei seemed to know what to do, put him on an accelerated course to become a Super Saiyan. But Gohan wasn't sure that a woman could go Super. So he was torn between giving her the same kind of training as Trunks, or coming up with something geared toward her current abilities.

One idea that he seemed to be entertaining was something about her tail, the reason why she couldn't go out at night during a full moon. Something regarding certain notes he had found in the quarters of Trunks' former father.

Whatever he had in mind, so far he had not told her about it yet. Instead he watched and observed.

And that worried her more then anything else. Not because he hadn't figured out where to take her training, no, she had faith in her Sensei to come up with something. It was the way he watched them. Something was off.

She almost stopped sparring to ask her Sensei when suddenly the gravity went down, back to normal. As the two of them stopped sparring the door opened and Bulma came in.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your training, Gohan," Bulma said apologetic, "But there are some people here to see you."

"See me?" Gohan said surprised, and rightly so because there weren't a whole lot of people who knew about his existence.

Then a man entered the gravity gym. He wore a pair of battered glasses, which clearly had seen better days, while still dressed in the khaki camouflage webbing that everybody wore who ventured out in the open.

"Hello Gohan," the man said in a British accent, "It's been a while."

"Not long enough, Wesley Wyndham Pryce," Gohan said, "What brings you here?"

"Well, I, or should I say the Council has a favor to ask," Wesley said.

"The Council died years ago," Gohan said unimpressed.

"You know what I mean," Wesley said unperturbed, "Enough of us survived to reform the Council."

"If that is what you choose to believe," Gohan said as he walked towards Wesley, then around him. Then he stopped.

"Trunks, Mayan, leave us," he said. It was the tone he used as a teacher. The one that stood for no argument.

"Yes Sensei," Mayan said as she and Trunks walked out of the gravity gym.

Outside the gym they saw a girl dressed in rags, only barely older then Mayan, seated on a bench. Close by Jonesy was busy servicing some spare parts, muttering something under his breath that sounding suspiciously much like stupid Saiyan half-breeds ruining my poor gym.

It was something he said often, even to their faces, so she wasn't particularly worried. Like any caretaker Jonesy was fiercely overprotective of what he like to call _his_ gravity gym.

"I'll go hit the shower," Trunks said as he sniffed his armpits.

"You do that," Mayan grinned, "You reek so much not even the androids will come close to kill you."

"I was hoping you would," Trunks said as he grinned back, ear to ear. Mayan returned the smile, then she patted him on the cheek.

"Go hit the showers, Trunks," she smiled, "Then we'll see."

Pretending to be disappointed Trunks left with his tail between his legs. Or in his case in front.

Meanwhile Mayan watched her lover disappear. She was about to go to her own room herself when someone spoke.

"Hello Mayan, long time no see."

Mayan turned around and saw a man standing there. A fairly large men dressed in the same camouflage webbing as the man that had come to visit their Sensei. Then the man pulled back the hood covering his face and she recognized him.

"Angel?"

x

* * *

x

"So, again, Wesley, what brings you here?" Gohan said.

"The Council wants to ask you for a favor," Wesley said as he examined the controls of the gravity gym.

"What kind of favor," Gohan said suspiciously, "Like with Faith?"

Wesley turned around and faced Gohan.

"It has taken us a long time but we finally managed to find the new Slayer," he said, then he pointed to the door of the gym, "She's on the other side."

Gohan looked at the door, then back at Wesley.

"That's nice," he said as he folded his arms across his chest, "but what do I have to do with that?"

"Well….," Wesley said hesitantly, causing Gohan to roll his eyes.

"Dear Kami," he exclaimed, "it _is_ like with Faith all over!"

"We want you to train this girl, Mr. Son," Wesley said, then he gestured around herself, "We went to great expense to find her and now that we have her we need your help. Miss Briefs owns the only gravity gym in the world and you're the only teacher left in the world that could teach her to one day fight the androids."

Gohan didn't reply, instead he walked over to the drinks cabinet and pulled out a bottle of a home made sports drink. Drinking deeply he emptied it in one gulp.

"No," he finally said after finishing his drink, "I'm not going to train her."

"Gohan," Bulma said as she reached out towards Gohan, "Are you su…."

"I said no!" Gohan said vehemently and took a step backwards, "Haven't I gotten enough people killed? Have we all forgotten what happened to Buffy and Xander? Willow? Faith?"

It had been one year after Xander had died and Buffy turned into a vegetable when Willow, on her quest for any occult knowledge learned that not only had Wesley, Angel and Faith survived the Burning of Los Angeles, they were instrumental in trying to revive the Council. Contact had been made and Wesley and Angel were very eager for Faith to come to San Francisco and be trained by Gohan. Like Buffy and Xander Faith had received some form of chi training from Belmovekk, before turning and joining forces with the Mayor. She barely had her change of heart when the world came to an end.

For two years Faith had trained with Gohan, reaching new personal heights within herself. But Gohan had refused to take her along to fight the androids. At first this seemed natural as she had to be trained up to a certain level to even make a chance. But overtime she grew resentful, demanding that she be allowed to come along. Which Gohan absolutely forbid.

Then one fateful day she decided that the rules no longer applied to her and she just followed Gohan. As usual Gohan when went out to meet the androids he got his ass handed to him by them and got thrashed to within an inch of his life. After which the androids would leave him to limp back to San Francisco and recuperate.

Of course Faith didn't know this.

So she did what she always did. Jump in there without thinking trying to save her teacher.

And got herself killed.

"No more!" Gohan said waving his finger in a dismissive gesture, "No more people dying because I trained them. Go find somebody else to who'll end up getting that poor girl trained. But not me. Not again!"

"Then what about those two?" Wesley said pointing to the door through which Trunks and Mayan had left, "Why train them but not the Slayer?"

Gohan turned his back towards Wesley and Bulma.

"I have my reasons," he said gruff, "And they have nothing to do with them fighting the androids."

x

* * *

x

"Xander?"

As he heard the name of his former rival Angel couldn't help but think that Xander was laughing his ass off in the afterlife. Back in the day when he had been Angelus and Xander had stood up to him in that hospital he had taunted Xander saying that it must have killed him to know that he had gotten Buffy first.

But now, as he sat on Buffy's bed, beside her, he couldn't help but think that Xander had gotten the last laugh on him after all. They may or may not have been lovers, he still wasn't sure about that, but Xander was now the only thing on what remained of her mind. Each time he visited her she asked for Xander, then withdrew into herself again.

"It's me, love," Angel said as he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She didn't respond as she just stared ahead blankly to a white wall. Her body, having gotten somewhat obese over the years from lack of exercise, was still here but her mind, that fabulous mind, that fabulous spirit with whom he had fallen in love, it was no more.

But by now at least he knew that.

When they had been contacted by Willow and learned that Buffy had survived the Burning of Southern California Angel just had to come. Just to see her again. He knew that she had been gravely injured and that her body had failed her. But seeing her that first time and learning that her mind had failed her as well nearly killed him and made him want to greet the sunlight.

Now it was just painful to see and experience, and yet, when he wasn't around and off on the Council's business he couldn't help but think of Buffy, and return to be by her side.

So now he was with her again. And he told her about all the things that happened since the last time he had been here. The things he had done, the people he had saved. The people he couldn't save. He told her everything, even if she wasn't listening. And who knew, maybe she was listening, some part of her mind, deep inside.

At least that was what he told himself at those moments when the walls were closing in on him and there was no way to escape being confronted with what he really was, the evil that he had done and the evil that was still inside him.

Eventually Angel had nothing more to tell, said and kissed Buffy goodbye, then he left her room. Outside the room he found Mayan leaning against the walls of the corridor.

"So, was it everything you had hoped for?" she said in a tone that was way too bitter for somebody so young.

"Sometimes you get what you need, not what you want," Angel said in a somber tone to her.

"Funny need you got," Mayan said derisively, "Hunkering for a piece of meat in there."

Hearing Buffy being described as a piece of meat brought out the protector in Angel.

"She's not just a piece of meat!" Angel erupted angrily, "She's your damn sister for god sakes!"

Mayan seemed unimpressed by his outburst as she slowly stepped forward until she was close to Angel and looked him in the eyes. As she did Angel couldn't help but think that she was the spitting image of Buffy. Then she spoke in a slow tone of voice.

"I _have_ no sister!"

x

* * *

x

Jacqueline Smith had been fourteen when she had been 'called'.

She was the first Slayer in a long time to be discovered by the Council. With the main office gone in the first days of the Android Invasion the Watchers in the field were left without guidance or contact. Then the androids began killing more and more places that had Watchers in them. Eventually the network, like most networks, collapsed.

After Faith got killed new Slayers had been called, but the new Council that Wesley and Angel were rebuilding had nothing like the global network coverage that the old Council had.

So almost all of the Slayers that got called found themselves on their own. Some hid their power, they were the smart ones, until their communities were discovered by the androids and were wiped out.

Most were not so lucky.

In the post-Android Invasion world superstition reigned supreme and anything out of the ordinary was considered an ill omen. And super strong girls were a sure sign of being out of the ordinary.

It was sheer luck that Jacqueline was merely cast out by her community rather then killed, as happened to most Slayers these days. And even then luck was relative because being outcast was an almost death sentence. In a community at least you enjoyed the safety of being hidden from the Androids. Out in the open one had to survive on one's own and chances of survival dropped dramatically. Only the Army and traders braved the open and only because they were adapt at hiding as well.

It was even greater luck that she was found by a trade caravan which just happened to have a watcher amongst its members.

And now she waited, waited patiently for her future to be decided.

The wait was over quickly as Wesley came out of the gravity gym, his face not looking happy in the slightest.

"Let's go," he said gruff, beckoning her to follow.

"Did he say yes?" the girl asked as she followed, to which Wesley grunted something noncommittal.

They were about to leave the Capsule Corp. headquarters when they bumped into Trunks, fresh out of the showers and in some clean clothes.

"Hey, uncle Wes," Trunks said surprised, "Are you leaving already?"

Wesley and the Slayer halted.

"It would seem that I journeyed here for, um, nothing," the Watcher said.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Trunks said sympathetic.

"That's okay, Trunks, it's not your fault," Wesley said as he smiled briefly at the teen.

"So why were you here?" Trunks asked curious, "I figure Angel probably came to see Mayan's sister, but you probably came here to talk with my mother, right?"

Wesley looked at Jacqueline for a moment before looking at Trunks again.

"Actually I, uh, wanted to speak to, um, Gohan," he said a little hesitant.

Trunks gave Wesley an odd look, then he looked at the girl and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"She's a Slayer," he exclaimed.

"You know?" Wesley said mystified, "How….?"

"She's stronger then the average human," Trunks said pointing to Jacqueline, then he tapped the side of his head, "I could sense it. It's a trick. Gohan taught us. It's fairly useless as you can't sense the androids being artificial in all but it has its uses from time to time."

Wesley looked at Trunks, then at his Slayer and then back to Gohan again.

"Trunks, can I ask you something?"

x

* * *

x

"What's wrong with you?" Bulma said as she faced Gohan in the gravity gym.

"What do you mean?" Gohan said, trying to sound casual.

"What happened just now," she said, "Why did you refuse Wesley? Why won't you train that girl?"

"I think I pretty much said what I wanted to say," Gohan said as he turned around and was about to walk to the exit.

"Don't you turn your back on me, Gohan," Bulma said as her voice went up an octave, "Don't you dare walk out on me!"

The pitch inflection was a sure sign that Bulma's fuse had been lit and she was about to ignite. The wrong word, even the wrong move could set her off like a ton of TNT.

Luckily for Gohan just about as he was about to say something, something happened that didn't happen a lot in the Greater San Francisco Area.

The city's android alert went off.

x

* * *

x

Like usual Trunks and Mayan protested at being left behind but Gohan stood for no objections. So after he issued some strong words he left alone to face the androids.

As usual.

Also as usual he donned his wireless communicator so he could communicate with Bulma.

"Testing, testing," Gohan spoke into his mouthpiece.

"As crystal," Bulma's voice said over the receiver.

Okay. So that worked.

"Where are they, Bulma?" Gohan asked as he climbed to a high altitude to get the best overview.

"Radio has it that the androids are attacking a community near Modesta," Bulma's voice said.

"Modesta?" Gohan said surprised, "That's on the other side of the mountains. Why did they sound the alarm for that?"

"Because they're jittery?" Bulma's voice explained, "Or haven't you been paying attention lately? The lack of electronics parts has really hurt our radar production."

"I try to keep my mind focused on other things," Gohan said evasively.

"I bet you do," Bulma's voice snorted, then she spoke ominously, "We're _still_ going to finish that conversation, remember?"

"I can hardly wait," Gohan said without much enthusiasm.

x

* * *

x

As he landed near Modesta Gohan found the small township that had been under attack to be already wiped out. All he found was charred bodies and destroyed underground homes.

As he surveyed the damage it occurred to Gohan that this particular community seemed to be well hidden. So well hidden in fact that he wondered what gave it away. Something must have tipped the androids. Usually it was something that people forgot, some little thing. Or people getting caught in the open.

But lately Gohan had begun to suspect that the androids knew damn well where most settlements were. That they had been keenly observing humanity as it went underground, that their machine like minds kept meticulous records where the hidden settlements where and that what they were really doing was randomly go down that list. It just seemed like the perverted sort of game that they were playing.

However it happened, it had happened really fast though. Normally if the androids attacked this close he'd catch them right in the act. This time they had slaughtered everybody before he could get here. Which was odd. Usually the first thing people did when under attack (other then trying to seek shelter in emergency hide outs) was put out a general android alert on the radio. That's how Gohan knew this place was under attack to begin with.

Halting his examination Gohan mulled it over for a moment. Why did they sent out the general android alert so late? It just didn't sit right. It was almost like….

Almost like he was hit by a lightning bolt Gohan spun around.

Only to see Android #17 and #18 standing there.

Clap, clap, clap.

Clapping his hands Android #17 stood up and walked towards Gohan.

"I told you, #18," #17 said applauding, "he would figure it out."

It was an ambush.

"Why?" Gohan said, causing Android #17 to turn around and look at Gohan.

"Why what?" he said deadpan.

"Why did you kill these people?" Gohan said gesturing around, "You obviously killed them to lure me here."

Android #17 glanced briefly at Android #18 before looking at Gohan again.

"Why, we wanted to talk," Android #17 said like it was the most normal thing in the world, "And its not like we can make a phone call and arrange for a meeting."

"No thanks to you two," Gohan retorted.

"We may have had a hand in it," Android #17 agreed, then he shrugged, "And this way brought us one step closer to killing all of humanity and bringing you here as well. Win-win for everyone, right, #18?"

Android #18 didn't reply. Instead she just grimaced and shot Trunks a dirty look.

"You have to excuse her," #17 continued as he put his hands together in front of him, "She's not getting much new clothes lately."

"I think I can live with her discomfort," Gohan said as he put his arms across his chest, "You wanted to talk to me? Shoot!"

"Shoot? How funny," Android #17 smiled, then the smile went of his face, "This is not going to work."

"What is?" Gohan said as he raised an eyebrow, "You killing all of humanity very slowly? Here's a radical idea, why not stop instead?"

"How very droll," #17 said not laughing, then his serious face got even more serious, "Now, here's the thing, we let you live in the past because you provided us with amusement. But lately you've been letting yourself go. Not only are you going through the motions, you've been holding out on us."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gohan said unaffected.

"The kids, Gohan," Android #17 said, his eyes narrowing, "It's time you brought the kids out to play. We're tired of beating you up. It is time to take our relationship to the next level. Bring us the kids to play with."

"I will do nothing of the sort," Gohan hissed angrily, "If you want to play, play wi….AAAAHH!"

Before Gohan knew what had happened Android #18 attacked him from behind and kicked him against his kidney region in the back. Suffering massive pain Gohan fell to his knees, upon which the two androids began to kick the living shit out of him.

For fifteen minutes they mercilessly beat him until all Gohan could do was lie on the ground panting heavily on a cloud of pain.

Once they had finished what they had started Android #17 knelt next to him.

"Let this be an object lesson to you, Gohan," Android #17 said calmly as he patted Gohan on the shoulder, "You do remember object lessons, right? That's when someone in class, in this case you, gets used as an example."

Gohan didn't reply, as he was too busy trying to breathe. So Android #17 leaned over and began to whisper in his ear.

"Brings us the kids or we come looking for them. And we'll burn San Francisco in the process too."

Again Gohan didn't respond.

"I think we hurt him too much, #18," Android #17 said towards Android #18.

"No, I think we hurt him just enough," Android #18 said disapprovingly as she straightened her hair, "I think he needs more 'encouragement'."

Android #17 looked at Android #18, then at Gohan.

"You know what, #18, for once I think you're right," he nodded in agreement, "I think we should leave him something so he really remembers us. No, better yet, I think we should leave with something so he really remembers us."

Then, as Android #18 watched on with a big sadistic grin, Android #17 inflicted the greatest physical pain he'd ever felt on to Gohan.

He tore off his arm.


	28. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter 15**

' **2+2=5'**

x

x

AN: _Nothing much to say I guess_

 _Just the same as all the rest_

 _Trying to throw your arms around the world_

 _When a woman needs a man_

 _And the Edge needs a bicycle_

 _Trying to throw your arms around the world_

 _Just keep 'm reviews coming. ;-)_

 _x_

AN 2017: _It's weird that I didn't have any comments as this was one of the parts where I departed most from canon DBZ. Not even the fact that I researched about what menu selection the US Army had in 2001 for its MRE's (they do change over time)._

x

* * *

x

A-Day +11

x

They must have traveled through at least seven or eight gates by now as Teal'c punched in the coordinates for their eight or ninth transit. And by now Buffy was getting really sick of it. Each time she went through the event horizon her inner Slayer did its inner version of throwing up. By now her inner barf bag was nearing overflow and there seemed no end in sight.

"Chief, can we take a rest at the next place?" Buffy spoke up, "I need to visit the spaceport girl's room."

"We have to keep going, young lady," Belmovekk replied as the event horizon erupted from the Stargate, "In order for us to be untraceable we have to keep going."

"There's like a gazillion combinations on that thing," Buffy said pointing towards the Stargate, "We've been through it seven or eight times. That's like eight times a gazillion."

"Actually the odds increase each time you go through that thing by the same order of magnitude," Android #18 said with a sardonic grin, "So it would really be, as you would say, a gazillion to the eight magnitude?"

Buffy gave Android #18 a dirty look before looking at Belmovekk again.

"What Barbieface said," she said, "A lot. Can we please take a rest at the next place?"

"I wouldn't mind having a pit stop myself," Krillin added, "I mean, what are the odds that Ce…."

He was resolutely cut off by Buffy.

"Don't say that!" she said at him like he was a child of some sorts, "Don't _ever_ say such things. You're just taunting Murphy that way and nobody gets away with taunting the Murph."

"I am not sure," Belmovekk said, "I still think its better to keep going. Who knows how well Cell can track us? For all we know he can track chi across interstellar distances like me and Goku. Remember the Majin?"

"Yeah, but you can do that instant transmission thing, and Cell can't," Buffy countered, then her face clouded, "Oh God, now I'm taunting the Murph. Please tell me Cell can't do the instant transmission thing."

"Doesn't look like it," Krillin said, "I can think of at least half a dozen events where it could have proved useful for him. We wouldn't even be talking here if he could."

"Thank God for small favors," Buffy sighed relieved.

"Maybe we could do a small rest after all," Belmovekk said, then he gestured towards the gate, "But not here. Move it people!"

"Here goes another one," Android #18 muttered softly under her breath, then she stepped through the event horizon, immediately followed by Belmovekk.

"I'm really starting to hate this," Buffy muttered as she walked towards the Gate.

"Do you really think Cell is able to come after us?" Krillin asked her, "Aren't your friends defending that military base?"

Buffy halted for a moment and looked at Krillin.

"Did you fight that thing?" she asked dead serious, "I mean, actually fight against it, not watch as others fight him? Or it? Or whatever?"

"Uh, no," Krillin said softly.

"Count yourself lucky," Buffy said, "Fighting Cell is like, well, what was it like to fight Freeza on that planet Pickles is from?"

"Namek," Krillin said, then he looked downcast. He still had nightmares about fighting Freeza. The sheer hopelessness as the evil tyrant just did one transformation after another and nothing they did seemed to have any effect at all. The pain when he first got skewered on Freeza's horn, and then the pain when Freeza killed him. The helplessness he felt right before being torn apart.

"Trust me, they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell," Buffy said, again halting this time right in front of the Stargate, "More like a snowball in hell which gets thrown across the river of molten lava towards the annual demon barbecue while a giant hair dryer is blowing. They're going down and they knew it."

"Then what was the point?" Krillin asked as he caught up with her.

"Somebody had to be the speed bump and buy us time," Buffy shrugged, then she walked through the event horizon, "Cause what if he _can_ track us across the stars?"

Then she disappeared through the event horizon, leaving Krillin the last one on this alien planet.

"Why do we always attract the crazies?" he muttered to himself, before stepping trough the gate as well.

x

* * *

x

Standing in her laboratory over her chi suppressing device Major Carter looked at Daniel. With the communications with down below lost there was no way of knowing whether it had worked or not.

Daniel broke the spell first by speaking out.

"Do you think it worked?" he asked concerned.

"I hope so," Sam said equally worried, "I haven't heard any more noise coming from below."

"It could also mean that Cell's got what he wanted," Daniel said.

"Yeah, that too," Sam said as she fingered her now silent radio. It was the unfortunate side effect of the device that it also blocked out all radio frequencies, turning all channels silent. And with all other means of communication blocked that really was a pain in the ass.

"Do you think we should turn it off?" Daniel asked.

"It's probably better not to," Sam said. Then red lights began to flicker on the device.

"What the…," Sam said surprised, then she studied some of the incoming data from the device.

"That's bad, right?" Daniel asked concerned. He may not understand engineering and physics, but like everyone he understood that blinking red lights were not a sign of things going well.

"Something's causing an overload," Sam said worried.

"How?" Daniel asked.

"Like in generating way more power then it can counter," Sam said, then she jumped back in the nick of time as electrical sparks began to cascade all over the device. Then a flash, and smoke and flames began to rise from the device, causing Sam to disconnect it from the generator.

"That's it, we're done for," she said shaking her head.

"Well, there's a plus side," Daniel said as he picked up her radio, "Maybe now we can finally learn what's going on."

x

* * *

x

As Krillin emerged on the other end of the Stargate he was greeted by the sight of a planet which looked remarkably like Earth. A beautiful clear sky, lush verdant forest all around them.

Buffy and the Saiyan were talking together not that far away, while Teal'c was busy opening his back pack. So clearly they were going to take that break after all. Android #18 on the other hand stood aloof, arms folded across her chest and her eyes trained on infinity.

"Where are we?" Krillin asked the big Jaffa warrior, "This looks so much like Earth it could be Earth.

"I do not know the name of this place, Krillin," Teal'c replied as he took some packages from his back pack, "If you desire so I could give you its number?"

"No thanks," Krillin said shaking his head, "I'm terrible with numbers."

"It is of no concern then," Teal'c smiled, then he held out a package towards Krillin, "Here."

"What is it?" Krillin asked as he took over the package.

"MRE's," the big Jaffa said, "Military rations. I believe it stands for Meals Ready to Eat. Although I have heard O'Neill and others describe them by many other names."

"Such as?" Krillin asked.

"Meals Rejected by Everyone, Meals Rarely Edible, Meals Rejected by the Enemy, Meals Ready to Excrete."

"They're that bad, huh?" the small fighter said as he cautiously opened his package. Meanwhile the Jaffa thought things over briefly as he opened his package.

"I think their rejection is highly overstated," he finally said, "although I have yet to understand why Meals Rejected by Ethiopians is considered funny."

"Hmmm," Krillin said as he sniffed the inside of his Country Captain Chicken MRE, "It doesn't look much like chicken to me."

Instead of Country Captain Chicken the package was full with smaller packages. Opening what seemed like the biggest it did smell kinda chickenish. So he then proceeded to eat some of it and realized why so many of its nicknames featured the word rejected.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked as he walked towards Android #18.

"Leave me, Little Man," the android said derogatory.

"Just asking," Krillin said, not even flinching any more at the verbal abuse. By now he was used to it.

"If you must know I do not require food," Android #18 said, "Although I can eat if I have to blend in."

"Well, I would offer you some but I don't think I would do you a favor," Krillin said as his face turned sour after eating some of his MRE, "I'm not sure even Goku could stomach this."

Android #18 glared briefly at Krillin, then she rolled her eyes and walked away.

"You can eat without me," she said dismissively as she walked away.

Taking a deep sigh Krillin took another bite from his MRE and found himself in two minds whether or not he was hungry enough to continue eating.

"Teal'c, are you sure that people actually eat this and not use it as a weapon," he called towards Teal'c, who visibly enjoyed his MRE, "I mean, you can bash somebody's skull in with this."

"Goa'uld field rations are much worse," the Jaffa said offhand, causing an odd look from Krillin.

"I guess you're the expert then," Krillin said. Deciding that keeping up his strength was more important then taste the little fighter chewed on bravely.

Meanwhile Android #18 put some distance between her and the others. Not because she particularly hated them, or that she didn't trust them. Well, actually, she didn't quite trust them. Buffy and her friend had spied on her and the others throughout their journey. Of course they had known that from the start so she couldn't exactly blame her for that.

She didn't quite know what game the Saiyan was playing, only that he seemed to like playing games more then he cared for the usual Saiyan pastime, fighting. And that made him suspicious. The tall dark human who seemed to be not from Earth seemed okay. She didn't know him but he had adherence to duty written all over him. People like that lived by a strict code of honor and that you could work with.

It was Krillin however that was getting on her nerves.

Of all the people currently with her his intentions seemed the most clear. Like he was shouting them out for everybody to hear. And right now that was really starting to become annoying. Sure, he seemed like a cute little guy back beside that road in Afghanistan. But if she had known he would have come running after her like a love struck puppy she would have knocked him senseless and thrown him in with the others they had knocked some sense into.

And who knew, maybe under different circumstances it might have been cute even. But now, on this who knows where planet somewhere in the Galaxy, her brother gone, absorbed by Cell, and Cell gunning for her, it was just too much. The wrong thing at the wrong time.

God, #17. What the hell had happened to you?

What kind of sick monstrosity had this evil maniac come up with?

And why did her brother and her play such a big part in this thing's quest for completion? What kind of sick freak designed its sick monstrosity so that it needed to absorb both her and #17? Surely that made no sense whatsoever, right? I mean, if Cell needed their powerplants, why not build it into him right away?

In the end all she could think of was that Gero was clearly and completely utterly insane. Of course, she knew that the moment both she and her brother had been activated for the first time and been told what their mission was. The very idea of being enslaved to this sick individual and having to carry out his revolting orders was what led them to rebel in the first place.

Then again, who knew, maybe that's why Gero, cursed be his name, had designed Cell this way. Because he knew that he couldn't count on them to do the job he wanted them to do and at least this way they would still serve him. By being part of a more obedient and stronger organism. At least it would explain why he kept them around, instead of taking them apart for spare parts for his new androids. After all, surely he could have found use for their advanced circuitry in the Afghan wastelands where he lived the last of his days?

It was at that moment, as she pondered Gero's plans that she again was struck by the realization that her brother was no more.

#17 was gone!

Forever gone!

Gobbled up like some midnight snack by that thing.

Gone and no more. Just a memory now. Just bits of electrical energy occupying parts of her brain. Or hard drive space.

The measure of a man, reduced to just bits and bytes.

Anger now took hold of her. Why did that idiot have to dally so much? Of all the time they had wasted along the way, think of the things they could have done instead? Surely India was entertaining, so was China. But they could also have used their time to do other things. Like find out who they really were. To be more then just a number. More then just a…..

Suddenly something knocked into her with so much force that she was thrown to the ground.

"What the…," she exclaimed, only to notice that it was the little man, Krillin, hunched on top of her.

"Get off me, Little Man! Ge….," she said, then she stopped.

From seemingly deep within the earth she saw a now very familiar looking tail, its spike now widened into a funnel.

And it was hovering over them.

x

* * *

x

As the deadly sphere of energy slowly wobbled towards the SGC control room everybody seemed just nailed to the floor, unable to take their eyes from that deadly thing. Occasionally a crackle of lightning energy erupted around the thing, causing the lights in both the gate and control room to flicker.

The thing was just two meters away from hitting the windows of the SGC control room when a small hand radio suddenly came to life.

"Major Carter here. Hello? Colonel? General? Is anybody there?"

Hearing Carter's O'Neill snapped out of his revelry and picked up the radio.

"This is O'Neill," he said.

"Thank God, sir," Carter's voice said relieved, "Are you alright?"

"After a fashion, major, after a fashion," O'Neill replied, "Where are you, Carter?"

"Still in the upper level, sir," Carter's voice replied, "Daniel's with me. We're trying to come down. Is it safe to come down? What happened to Cell?"

"That's a negatory, major," O'Neill spoke into the radio, "Do not come down, I repeat, do not come down. In fact, I order you to escape. Don't even bother looking for others, just get the hell out of here."

"I do not understand, sir," Carter said uncertain, "What is going on down there? Is Cell still there?"

"Cell's gone and let's just say he left us a parting gift," O'Neill said as the lights flickered again, "And if you and Daniel don't get the hell out of here you'll both end up being part of his 'parting gift'."

For a moment the radio remained empty.

"I understand," she finally said, "It's been an honor serving with you, sir."

"It's been an honor serving with you too, Carter," O'Neill said.

"How much time do we have?" Carter asked, causing O'Neill to walk towards the broken window and look through it. The ball of death was now only a meter away from him.

"Oh, I'd say not much at all," he said calmly.

"I see, sir," Carter replied equally calm, causing O'Neill to raise an eyebrow.

"Carter," he said suspiciously.

"Yes sir?"

"You're not getting away at all, aren't you?" he asked.

"You know me too well, sir," Sam replied, chuckling to oneself, then she stopped sounding pleased with herself, "Sir?"

"What is it Carter?"

"I think we're not alone here."

"In what way, Carter?" O'Neill asked.

"Cause I'm standing in front of the elevators and there's two elevator shafts that have been broken into. Unless Cell split into two it looks somebody else took another elevator downstairs as well. No pun intended."

"I don't think it matters much right now, Carter," O'Neill said, "We're about to cross over into the light. And the light looks like it says: all are welcome. All are welcome into the li…."

Before O'Neill could finish his sentence something flashed between him and the incoming energy attack. Something clad in blue and white surrounded by golden flames almost materialized out of nowhere.

"What the….," O'Neill said as he took three steps backwards, then he recognized the figure, "Ow crap, it's him!"

x

* * *

x

To her horror Android #18 saw Cell's tail, set to suck, hover over the both of them.

Krillin's mad push into her had saved her from being sucked into that thing, but now it was already actively searching for a new target, like an automatically homing #18 seeking missile.n

And before she even had a chance to call for help that thing lunged towards her.

Closing her eyes she braced herself for impact

 _#17, here I come._

But then, nothing.

No feeling of Cell's suction device sucking her in.

She opened her eyes and saw the weirdest sight.

Cell's tail had inadvertently grabbed Krillin instead and was now trying to suck him in, his short legs still sticking out, wriggling in vain as he got sucked steadfast inside.

"KRILLIN!" Android #18 yelled, feeling a sudden worry that surprised her.

No sooner had she yelled when the vermicular motion stopped. Something was wrong. And then the funnel widened, followed by a rapid contraction of the tail. Next thing the tail spit out Krillin and sent him flying through the air.

#18 was relieved to see Krillin being ejected from that thing. Granted, he was annoying, but nobody deserved being absorbed by that… thing.

Even before Krillin would land amidst globs of purple goob, the sucking funnel now aimed itself towards Android #18. And as it came down she thought this might be a good time for her to get the hell away. And yet…. she found herself motionless and unable to move? A thousand thoughts went through her mind, not the least of which was whether this was because of some hidden subroutine written by Gero or because of something else.

Then something golden whizzed past and sliced the tail clean off.

It was a Kienzan disc thrown by the Saiyan.

The Saiyan jumped towards her, transforming into Super Saiyan along the way, then he briefly touched down behind her before jumping away again, taking her with him in the process.

"Activate the gate," he yelled as he made for the platform with the Stargate. The Jaffa wasted no time punching in symbols on the controller, but nothing happened.

"It does not respond, Satiya," the Jaffa yelled as the Saiyan and #18 touched down on the platform.

Before anyone could respond, the earth rose up where the tail had been, bulging upwards until finally it erupted in a shower of earth and white chi.

Then something mottled and green rose to the surface.

"I…. i…it's a trap!" Krillin yelped as he joined the others around the Stargate.

In response Buffy raised her power as well.

"Thank god we have you to tell us these things, Admiral Ackbar," Buffy said, then her own chi flame erupted around her as well.

x

* * *

x

"What's going on, sir?" Major Carter's voice spoke into the radio, "Hello? Can anybody hear me."

There was no reply.

Carter looked at Daniel and the soldiers who were with them.

"What the hell is going on down there?" Sam said. Then the radio erupted again.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT YOU FOOL, YOU'LL GET US ALL KILLED!"

"Sir, what's going on," Sam spoke again in the radio.

"It's that crazy Saiyan," O'Neill's voice said, "He's pushing against that energy bal. He'll get us all killed."

"Well, obviously if he's pushing against it and its not exploding it means he knows what he's doing," Sam spoke into the radio, "Sir."

"I guess you're right, Carter," O'Neill replied, "It's unnatural though."

Sam and Daniel looked at each other and began to laugh.

"With all due respect, sir, so is Gate travel," Sam said, then she stopped laughing, "Did Belmovekk return or something?"

"For once I wish he had," O'Neill's voice said exasperated, "It's even worse. It's Vegeta."

x

* * *

x

"How did he find us," Android #18 said agitated as Cell fully emerged from the ground, "I thought you said that we would be safe here?"

"No longer important, sweetheart," Buffy said grim, "All that matters is the first rule of Slaying."

"And that is?"

"Don't die."

x

* * *

x

In the SGC control room everybody stared engrossed as Vegeta pushed Cell's deadly energy ball slowly but surely back.

"You know, that's actually a neat trick," O'Neill said to general Hammond.

Before Hammond could reply somebody barged into the control room. Something dressed in blue spandex and golden hair standing up straight.

"I remember you," O'Neill said as he recognized the kid from the future. But then the kid from the future saw his girlfriend lying unconsciously on the floor.

"OHMIGOD!" Trunks yelled as he ran towards Mayan, "Mayan, honey, are you alright?"

Mayan didn't respond, on the account of course of her still being unconscious.

"She's still out," a corpsman said who had been attending the unconscious two, "But she's breathing regularly."

"Then why's she still out?" Trunks asked, "And why she's even here in the first place?"

"They were with us fighting Cell," an SGC soldier said, a yingyang emblem on his shoulder denoting he had received chi training, "But something happened, something that completely knocked the wind out of all of us."

"That must be the device Major Carter activated, son," General Hammond said.

"What device?" Trunks asked worried, "What are you talking about?"

"Major Carter came up with a device that she thought could dampen a person's chi generation," General Hammond explained, "We thought it might stop Cell."

"So that was what we felt when we came here," Trunks said shocked.

"So that was what almost got us killed," the soldier said, not sounding very pleased.

"HEY, IDIOT!" somebody yelled.

It was Vegeta, still holding the energy ball.

"Play with your girlfriend another time and find out where Cell went first."

x

* * *

x

"Hand her over to me," Cell said as approached the five gathered around the Stargate, "Give me Android #18 so I can become…., complete."

"Yeah I get it," Buffy said defiantly, "You may be the most advanced Big Bad the universe has ever seen, but you still talk like a first timing fledgling when he rises from the grave."

"Teal'c, try activating that gate," Belmovekk said, "we have to get out of here."

Then Belmovekk looked at Buffy.

"Shall we do this?"

"Ready when you are, daddy dearest," she nodded. Then Belmovekk looked at Krillin.

"I'm with you, chief," Krillin nodded determined.

Then the three of them stormed Cell.

x

* * *

x

Having stabilized the energy attack in the center of the Gate room, Vegeta came through the hole in the window that Cell had created.

"Fine, if you're not going to do it then I will," he sneered at Trunks, then he turned to the control staff and pointed towards the Stargate, "Somebody turn that thing on so I can go after Cell!"

Various people inside the Gate control room looked at each other, unsure what to say. In the end it was General Hammond who spoke first.

"We can't," he said in earnest, "The generator has shut down. We have no power."

For a moment it looked like Vegeta would kill General Hammond, his eyes glaring, then the Saiyan prince rolled his eyes.

"Damn you, Cell, you promised me a fight," he said angrily to himself, then he looked aside, only to then look at the general again, "If you had the power, could you still open that gate and send me to the same place Cell went?"

Before General Hammond could answer, Trunks interjected.

"It's over, father!" Trunks said incriminating, "Despite everything you did Cell got away and left you with nothing! You could have destroyed him, instead Mayan pa…."

"When I need your opinion I'll ask for it," Vegeta said in a commanding tone of voice, "Until then, be silent!"

Trunks' eyes glared angrily at Vegeta, but he kept his silence, thus allowing Vegeta to return his attention to the SGC staff.

"Well, if we had the power I suppose we could send you to his last known location," tech-sergeant Walters said and pointed to the computer controlling the gate, "He did leave us the gate address he entered. But it will take days to restart the generator. By then Cell could be everywhere."

Instead of being angry Vegeta began to smirk as he looked at the giant ball of energy that Cell had left behind.

"You just dial in those coordinates," he smirked, "I'll take care of the power."

x

* * *

x

The day had taken on a whole new surreal meaning, Android #18 thought as she watched almost everybody now fight Cell.

She was now the only one not engaged in combat with that thing as the Jaffa had proven unable to activate the Stargate. Sensing that he could do no good with the now dead Stargate console he ordered Android #18 to remain with the gate. Then he threw himself into the fight as well.

Today was indeed surreal, #18 thought. Only yesterday all these people were essentially the hunted while she, #17 and #16 were the hunters. She was one of Gero's androids. To be feared, the strongest force in the universe. She had kicked ass and kicked it hard.

And now the tables were turned.

Instead of being the hunter she was now the prey.

And the people she had ass kicked before were now fighting for everything they were worth to save her.

And the worst part was that she couldn't even help them because that would put her within striking distance of Cell's tail. Which the creature had already regenerated.

It was a hopeless fight as they were so hopelessly outclassed, it even put the fight where she outclassed Vegeta to shame. She had been stronger then Vegeta, but not by the margin at which Cell was stronger then them. The damn thing was toying with them, enjoying showing off its power because it knew, like she did, that unlike before this time there was no going to be no escape for her.

Well, not unless that Saiyan, Belmovekk, pulled off his teleportation technique.

Unfortunately either that didn't seem to be possible, otherwise he would have done so before throwing himself against Cell, or he was saving it for the last possible moment. Which frankly happened at least several minutes ago.

"This isn't happening," she muttered in desperation, "this isn't happening."

She turned around and looked at the massive ring of the Stargate, mocking her with its inert presence. Offering the tantalizing promise of escape and yet denying it to them by refusing to work.

She then looked at the large mushroom shaped control, with its array of keys with Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols. By now she knew that you needed to tap in at least seven of these keys in combinations that only the Jaffa seemed to know. She had paid attention to at least half of the times he had tapped in those combinations so she figured that if the damn thing would only work she could take them back to at least four of their previous pit stops.

But how could she make this work?

Her data base did cover the basics of human technology and she figured that if she had the time and if this thing was based on human technology she might get it going again.

But this was alien technology. It could operate on principles she had no knowledge of. Which it should because she barely understood the principles as to how this gate travel actually worked. She knew that there were whole fields of human theoretical thinking devoted to things like this. But Gero hadn't provided her with much information on them. Nor did she think much of it was correct anyway.

And yet Cell had managed to find out how it worked, otherwise the gate wouldn't be out of order. Cell came from the same background she did. Maybe even less so because he was 100% organic and possibly lacked the databases that she carried. Which meant that it might be trivially easy to restore if you knew where to look for.

She looked at the gate controller and thought about it. Then she looked at the fight behind her and saw that Cell had already knocked out the Jaffa. Again somebody had paid the price for trying to save her from that thing. First Piccolo, then Faith. Buffy had told her that Belmovekk had died fighting Cell as well. Back on Earth the SGC, Xander and Mayan had probably also paid the price, otherwise Cell wouldn't be here. Now the Jaffa was out, and the others seemed sure to follow. If things went as they seemed to be going then that Saiyan was slated for his second death within a day.

She better well hurry trying to fix that controller before they all died. She turned towards the controller, placed her hands on it, trying to look for some access panel. Which wasn't that easy to find, and probably rightly so considering these things had been around for thousands of years. They were obviously built to last and not be taken apart by all sorts of inquisitive fellows.

Then how did Cell manage to?

Then she saw what she thought was the access panel and with it hasty signs of tampering. So that was how you did it? She was about to reach out her hands when she suddenly halted.

What was the point anyway? The moment Cell saw what she was doing he would stop toying with the others and kill them instantly. And then he'd be over her before she even had a chance to finish what she was doing.

There was only one course of action left to her.

She turned around and yelled.

"HEY, CELL!"

x

* * *

x

And she thought fighting Cell was hard the first time, Buffy thought as she fought Cell. Before it was already an uphill battle, now it was like trying to fight fog while armed with a knife. Totally useless.

Not for the first time she wished that Willow was with them now. Xander too, because he was her fighting partner, but she doubted that even Super Saiyan Xander (was it Super Saiyan or just Super Xander?) would make much of a difference here. No, what was needed was some out of the box thinking. Preferably magic in nature.

Unfortunately Willow had once told her the great limiting factor in regards to magic. Like fighting it was ultimately a test of willpower. And if the other guy had more will and power, no amount of wishing was going to make your spell succeed.

Still, there had to be something Willow could do that could a difference. Teleportation for instance. Obfuscation if necessary. At the very least unleash the technogeek that was still inside her and fix that damn stupid gate!

Teal'c had thrown himself into the battle after proving unable to fix that damn gate himself. In that sense he was like the rest of his people that she had come to know back during the Battle of Sunnydale. Lots of bravery, not enough smarts. At least not enough to recognize that the poor guy was way out of his league here. Then again so was she, so maybe that meant that they had something in common. The dumbass club or something like that.

As it turned out the dumbass club suddenly got itself a new member because suddenly Android #18 decided to get involved.

"HEY, CELL!" she yelled, getting everyone's attention.

Oh God, Buffy thought, please don't make Cell's day and get involved as well. You'll get skewered faster then it would take to say shish kebab.

"What is it, #18?" Cell replied back as he punched Belmo in the gut, "As you may say I'm kinda busy right now. Unless you have come to your senses and decided so submit."

"Actually, I have."

That stopped the battle in its tracks. Everyone looked at Android #18 in shock. Even Cell.

"You're gonna do what?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"No, you can't," Krillin said horrified. Then Cell began to laugh.

"So you have come to your senses," Cell laughed, "finally become part of perfection."

"I couldn't care less about perfection," Android #18 said dismissively.

"They why submit?" Belmovekk asked curious.

"Because I'm tired of running," Android #18 replied matter of fact, "And sometimes its best to get it over with quickly."

"What kind of talk is tha…." Buffy tried to say but Cell smashed his fist into her face.

"I'm more then willing to facilitate," he smiled.

"Don't you touch her!" Belmovekk said but Cell just knocked him to the ground.

"No need to trouble yourself any more, old man," Cell said contemptuously as he walked past the injured Saiyan, then he briefly halted in front of Krillin, "So what's it going to be, Krillin?"

Cell heavily emphasized Krillin's name. Then he leaned forward, until his face was close to that of Krillin's.

"Remember how Freeza ripped you apart without even laying a finger on you?" he asked glib.

"I….., uh…," Krillin stammered as he took an involuntary step backwards.

"I can do the same thing he did to you," Cell smirked, "…..again."

"Leave him alone," Android #18 said before Krillin had a chance to react, "Hurt them any more and I'll blow myself up."

"Aw come on, #18," Cell sighed, "Not that again? I thought you wanted to end this?"

"There is more then one way to end this," Android #18 said, placing her hand on her chest.

"So why not blow yourself up instead?" Cell asked curious, "Why offer yourself up instead?"

"Oh, I'm not offering myself up just yet," Android #18 said, "Because if I did you would just kill them all. And then Earth as well just for kicks. So I have some things that I want first."

"Like what?" Cell asked.

"First, I want you to let them go, unharmed," Android #18 said, pointing to the others.

"I could grant that," Cell said casually.

"I also want you to spare Earth," Android #18 continued, "Once you become perfect I want you to spare that planet and the people who live there."

"Why, #18, I'm surprised," Cell said as he walked past Krillin, "You're a Gero type android, like me. You were created to destroy Earth, not save it."

"I hate Gero," #18 spat out, "I'd piss on his grave if I knew where it was. I hate everything that he did to me and my brother and everything he wanted us to do. If I can't be free, then I'll have at least this last form of resistance."

"Mmmm," Cell said as he halted and looked aside, to the forest's edge, "I must confess I did have my heart set on destroying Earth. And it pains me to hear you soil the good doctor's name."

"Well, too fucking bad," Android #18 snorted, "take it or leave it."

"#18, don't do it!" Krillin yelled, then he got hit by Cell's tail whacking him so hard he disappeared into the forest. For a while nothing happened as Cell pondered his next course of action.

"So, what's it going to be?" #18 asked calmly.

"I'm still thinking," Cell said a little annoyed at being disturbed, "I still think that I could absorb you before you have a chance to explode yourself."

"Suit yourself," #18 shrugged indifferent, "but remember, your thinking has given my bomb time to arm itself."

Cell raised an eyebrow at that, then he began to chuckle.

"Well, played, #18," he said appreciatively, "Well played indeed. I guess perfection takes precedence over my desire to destroy Earth. I agree to your terms."

Android #18 took her hand of her chest.

"Fine," she said as she walked up to Cell, "Let's get it over with."

"I can assure you it's quite painless," Cell said as his tail aimed itself towards Android #18 and the needle widened into a funnel.

"Spare me your blabbering," #18 said, then she closed her eyes.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

From the forest's edge Krillin came flying in as fast as he could, Kienzan discs at the ready in each hand, which he then threw at Cell. He wasn't alone as both Buffy and Belmovekk ignored their pain and threw themselves at Cell as well.

But it was too late.

Cell's tail had already lowered itself over Android #18. And as Cell easily swatted the Kienzan discs aside and fought off the attacks of Krillin, Buffy and Belmovekk the assimilation process had already begun.

Everybody was so busy that nobody noticed that the chevrons of the Stargate were coming back to life.

x

* * *

x

"Chevron three encoding!"

By now a very familiar and normal cry to be heard inside the SGC control room. Especially coming from the likes of tech-sergeant Walters, who now, as usual sat behind the Gate controls.

Of course, these weren't normal times by far.

For in stance there was the fact that the generator normally supplying the Stargate with power was now offline, and was going to be so for a long time.

There were protocols developed for just this kind of event. Since the generator being offline didn't prevent the Gate from being opened off world these protocols usually involved the off world Alpha Site from regularly opening the Stargate instead.

Of course the critical flaw in that plan depended on the Alpha Site _knowing_ that the SGC generator was offline.

Which they currently weren't aware of.

"Chevron four encoding," Walters said as down below, in the Gateroom, the Stargate was spinning. This had to be a first, he thought. The first time he was activating the Gate without generator power and using energy funneled by that Saiyan from Cell's energy attack. There was even a poetic justice in that, using what was meant to destroy the SGC to help fulfill its main function instead.

Of course the fact that this Saiyan wanted to tear Cell a new one was, after the ass raping the SGC had received, a nice bonus as well.

While Walters was busy Sam and Daniel made it to the control room as well.

"What the….," Sam exclaimed as she saw what Vegeta was going on, "What's he doing?"

"Somehow he's using the energy of the attack that Cell left behind to power up the Stargate," O'Neill said.

"Wow," was all Sam could say as she saw Vegeta, with his hands on a huge globe of energy, while a tendril of energy flowed towards the Stargate.

"Chevron five, encoded," Walters called out.

Then Sam looked at O'Neill.

"You know, sir, that was actually amazingly, um, concise and to the point," she said impressed.

"I have my moments," O'Neill grinned.

"I didn't know they could do that," Daniel said as he looked through the window at Vegeta.

"You know Saiyans," O'Neill shrugged, "If there's one thing you can count on it's that they're full of surprises. Big surprises. The kind that can get you killed kind of surprises."

"Where is he going?" Sam asked.

"Apparently where Cell went," O'Neill replied.

"I see," Sam said, then she sighed, "Too bad the device didn't work."

"Oh, it worked alright," O'Neill said as he pointed to the still unconscious Xander and Mayan, "It just didn't work on Cell and them."

"Chevron six encoded."

"It's going to take a long time to fix this, right?" Daniel said as he looked at the damage to the control room and the status board of the entire SGC.

"It sure is, Dr. Jackson," General Hammond replied, "Washington won't be pleased."

"I hope it was worth it," the archeologist sighed, "I've seen way too many dead on the way here."

"Time will tell," General Hammond said, "But at least we didn't go down without one hell of a fight."

"I know one guy who will end up being the wiser," O'Neill added, "All this crap only distracted us from Anubis out there."

"Chevron seven encoded," Walters called out, followed by the sound coming through the hole in the window of the Stargate event horizon erupting.

"Trunks, with or without you," Vegeta growled from inside the Gate room.

No sooner had Vegeta said it when a strange, almost nauseating feeling spread from the Gate room.

"What the hell is this?" O'Neill said as he grasped his stomach.

"I don't know," Daniel replied, also clutching his stomach.

"It's coming from the Stargate," Sam said as she steadied herself in front of a computer terminal, "It's some kind of radiation."

"It's Cell," Trunks said as he stood up, seemingly unaffected, "He's become complete. What you are sensing is his energy, changing, mutating."

"Are you sure?" Sam said to the half-Saiyan.

"Absolutely," Trunks said, then he put his hand behind his chest armor and handed something to the corpsman, still hunched over Xander and Mayan. It was a small bean. He then broke the bean in two pieces.

"Give them each a piece," he said, "it will restore them. And tell her I love her."

"Will do," the corpsman said.

Then Trunks jumped through the hole in the window into the Gate room.

Inside the Gate room Trunks noticed that Vegeta had already gone through, but Cell's energy attack was still there, still feeding energy to the Stargate. He was about to go through as well, then he stopped and reached his arm towards the ball of energy, which was still considerable.

The ball of energy lowered until it almost touched Trunk's outstretched hand. Then, having gained control of the energy attack, Trunks ran through the gate, taking it with him.

As soon as Trunks disappeared with the energy attack the wormhole closed and the Stargate fell inert and powerless.

x

* * *

x

It wasn't just the SGC which felt the emanations from Cell's transformation process. They just happened to be personally affected because they got the pure radiations coming straight through the Stargate.

Like a rippling effect the waves of energy sped across the Galaxy. Affecting anyone who could sense it.

x

* * *

x

On the Lookout both Piccolo and Tien looked towards the heavens with fear in their eyes.

"Oh no," Piccolo stammered in shock, "Cell, he's become…"

"…complete," Tien finished.

x

* * *

x

In San Francisco Yamcha was helping Faith carry the massive Android #16 into Bulma's lab when they suddenly stopped all three of them.

"#18, no," Android #16 said saddened.

x

* * *

x

In Sunnydale Spike was busy fighting a massively large demon when the both of them stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"Gnargh ye tooth mavsh moorh," the demon said as its eyes grew big in horror.

"Something like that," Spike concurred.

x

* * *

x

On a planet on the farthest edge of the Galaxy most people stopped what they were doing. And even though their scouters were going off the charts, some of them even exploding from being overloaded, they didn't need scouters to know that something was wrong. They could sense it as well.

Then one of them spoke up and voiced what everybody was thinking.

"Freeza?"

x

* * *

x

On planet Yardrat the Yardrati looked up towards the heavens. For a minute they looked, not one of them moving. Then they all looked at each other and brought their hands to their foreheads. The next thing one after the other blinked out of existence, until not a living Yardrati soul remained on the planet.

x

* * *

x

On yet another planet a powerful being, whose face was literally falling apart as its body could not contain the powerful being that was inside, made for a ring transporter.

"Ready the ship," he called out to a Jaffa servant, then a set of rings came down and he disappeared.

x

* * *

x

A small fleet of Ha'tak cruisers plowed through space, responding to the latest incursion in their space when they were hit by strange sensations. The First Prime of the Sons of Priya saw several of his command staff, who had received chi training, including the First of the Warriors of the Prophet, who had studied with the Disciple of Aldur back on Earth, reach for their stomach and something to steady themselves with. Whatever it was it soon hit him also, be not so powerful as it had hit them.

"In Priya's name, what is going on here?"

x

* * *

x

Even further away on a planet that was now called New Namek, the small handful of Nameks that now made up the remainder of their race looked to the heavens.

"Elder Moori, Elder Moori," three Namekian children cried as they ran up to Moori, Elder of the surviving Nameks and Guru's chosen successor.

"We're scared," the children said as they cowered around the Elder. Which wasn't that strange as far as Moori was concerned. They had all suffered at the hands of Freeza. And his chi signature could be sensed amongst there strange emanations.

"Don't be, children," Moori said as he tried to calm the children, "the evil tyrant is long dead. This is something else. And you know what, it's not even close to us."

After he had comforted the children and let another Namek take them away Moori turned to his warriors.

"It might be a good idea to gather the Dragonballs."

x

* * *

x

"No!" Krillin said softly as he raised his arm in front of his face as he got hit by the emanations coming from Cell's transformation. Like a hot desert wind full of sand it hit him straight in the face, blasting away at him, the others and the surrounding countryside in general.

They had failed.

Why had she done it?

Given herself up just like that?

To that…., thing?

She was gone now. Actually gone.

And all that remained was that…. thing!

As he balled his fists in impotent anger Krillin suddenly noticed something.

Vegeta was suddenly there as well, standing next to the Stargate.

"Vegeta?" Krillin stammered surprised.

"At last, he's transforming," Vegeta said looking mighty pleased, then his grin faded, "Now, don't disappoint me this time."

Then the weirdest thing happened as Trunks emerged through the Gate as well. And he was carrying a huge ass energy attack above his outstretched hand.

"Damn you, Cell," Trunks said angry as he saw Cell, "I'm not going to let you…"

Trunks aimed and threw the energy attack at Cell.

"Noooo!" Krillin yelled as he dove for cover and raised his shields.

DOOOOOM!

"Die, you bastard!" Trunks yelled after the massive explosion had passed. Beside him Vegeta barely looked phased.

"Are we done yet?" Vegeta asked contemptuously.

"At least I'm doing something, father," Trunks said back accusingly.

"Then at the very least attack him using your own power," Vegeta snorted derisively, "Cell created that attack when he was still imperfect. I used it to power the Gate. What makes you think you had any chance with it now that's becoming even stronger?"

"Because it seemed like poetic justice?" Trunks countered, "Because I couldn't leave that thing behind in that base?"

"Sentimental fool," Vegeta scoffed, then he resumed smirking again, "Luckily you did no real damage."

Even as Vegeta said those words the clouds of dust rapidly evaporated, in no small part helped by the emanations coming from Cell transforming.

"See?" Vegeta said.

"Not if I can help it!" Trunks said, then he threw himself onto Cell, who through all this time stood there motionless. Kicking and punching the half-Saiyan tried to make a difference, but got nowhere. He was joined by the others, Krillin and Belmovekk, who enjoyed similar lack of success. Even Teal'c had managed to gather himself up and tried to attack Cell as well.

"Fools," Vegeta snorted as he watched on.

"Takes one to know one," a voice said behind him.

"Spare me your platitudes, Summers," Vegeta said without looking back, "I did what I had to do. We both desire to test ourselves. And he just happens to be the ultimate test."

"I would so not do it at the expense of everyone else," Buffy countered.

"Only because you allow yourself to be weighed down by silly conventions like friends and responsibility," Vegeta said as he briefly smirked at her over his shoulder, "But deep down you too desire to test your mettle. To know what your boundaries are."

"But not the expense of getting everybody on Earth killed, you moron!" Buffy bit back pointing to the Stargate, causing Vegeta to look up at the sky.

"How does the saying go," he smirked, "I believe we aren't in Kansas any more? The point is moot now."

"No thanks to you," Buffy said, then she looked puzzled, "Did you just quote the Wizard of Ozz on me?"

"The why and how of our journey is inconsequential, Summers," Vegeta shrugged, "All that matters is that we are here now. To find an answer to that age old question, what exactly are we made off?"

Buffy tried to say something, even raised her finger at Vegeta, then she changed her mind.

"You try to give him a piece of your mind and he goes Dr. Phil on you instead," she muttered softly.

Meanwhile Cell erupted one more time a large burst of energy, then it stopped. Upon which an eerie calm settled in.

"Finally," Vegeta said appreciative.

Cell's physical appearance had changed radically. The green mottling had become more subdued to a more pale green and medium gray. His dark chitin wings had returned from his previous form, but the tail was gone now. There obviously being no more need to absorb anything.

When he had gone from his original form to his second form Cell had bulked up considerably, gaining a more body builder like body. That had remained exactly the same. But there was now an air of sophistication to him, that had been lacking in his second form.

The greatest change however was in his face though. Gone were the insect/monster like faces, in was now a very human face, even one that was pretty, even though it was in a somewhat alien pale gray instead of human pink.

"Not very impressive for a perfect form," Vegeta sneered, "I think he even became shorter."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy countered, "He looks kinda dateable. Not something you would bring home to your mom, but he now does have that bad boy look going for him and…."

"I forgot who I was talking too," Vegeta said, "Please take your brains out of your cunt, Summers."

Before Buffy had a chance to respond Krillin attacked Cell again.

"Oh look, another dummy thinking with his vagina," Vegeta sneered as Krillin began to pound Cell's head. Buffy wanted to come to Krillin's aid when she stopped by Vegeta.

"Watch and learn, Summers," Vegeta smirked.

Krillin's attack had come to nothing as Cell wasn't even phased by them, even after having gotten a direct kick to the back to the head. It had even Krillin dumbfounded as he hung there in the air just motionless.

"Get away, Krillin," Buffy said softly, but then Cell moved with a speed so fast she could hardly follow it. Kicking Krillin in the head himself Cell sent the little face first into a trench of his own making.

Both Belmovekk and the Jaffa came to his aid.

"Krillin, are you alright?" Teal'c asked, but there was no reply, just some involuntarily twitching in his left leg, upon which the Jaffa looked at Belmovekk, "I think his neck and back are broken. He needs medical attention."

"He needs a senzu, that's what he needs," Belmovekk said, then he began to curse, "Torak's teeth! I should have listened to Piccolo and taken a few."

"What is a senzu?" Teal'c asked.

"I have one," Trunks said as he touched down behind them, "But it's the last one. Give it to him."

"It might not be a good idea to run out of senzu beans at this time," Belmovekk countered, "What if we run into a greater need?"

"Then give him half," Trunks said as he broke the bean in two and held out half a bean, "He'll still be exhausted but at least he'll be better."

"A fair compromise," Belmovekk said as he took the bean.

"What is this, thing?" Teal'c asked curiously as Belmovekk put the bean in Krillin's mouth.

"The best medical care in the universe," Belmovekk said as he closed Krillin's mouth and began to stroke underneath Krillin's chin to make him swallow.

Meanwhile Vegeta took off and traversed the short distance towards Cell.

"So, does it make you feel proud of being able to defeat ants like that?" Vegeta sneered contemptuously, "Just like I thought. Your perfect form is nothing special. Neither your power, nor your sense of honor has improved much."

Cell looked at Vegeta and a smirk began to grow on his face.

"I'm sorry to disappoint," he said in a voice that sounded quite human and pleasing, "I need a warming up. Will you help me?"

"Naturally," Vegeta smirked, "But I won't hold back this time. I will kill you."

"Thanks," Cell nodded.

x

* * *

x

Meanwhile Krillin had swallowed half the senzu and began to gasp for air.

"Remarkable," Teal'c said impressed as he watched the rapid healing process happen.

"Easy, easy," Belmovekk said soothing as he steadied Krillin, "Welcome back from the dead. This makes what? Three times now?"

"Third time is lucky," Krillin coughed.

"Guys," Buffy said as she touched down next to them, "His Royal Unholiness is going to fight Cell. Maybe this would be a good time for us to vamoose?"

"Oh," Krillin said as he sat up straight, "This is bad. Really bad."

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked.

"Look, I know I'm nothing compared to you Saiyans," Krillin said, then he pointed towards Buffy, "Even you are way out of my league now. But I'm really good at getting a feel of a person's strength. And I'm telling you, Vegeta doesn't know what he's in for, Cell's that insanely strong. What he did too me is nothing but a love tap compared to his true power."

Everybody now looked at Cell and Vegeta about to square off against each other.

"I tell you, the amount of chi you're now feeling from that thing is nothing compared to what its really got," Krillin continued, "It's got way more. Way, way more."

"Well, on that exciting revelation, how about we get to somewhere safe?" Buffy again suggested.

"That might be a good idea, young lady," Belmovekk echoed.

"I think I saw some hills over there," Teal'c said pointing to a direction. Then the three of them took off.

"Can you still fly?" Trunks asked concerned.

"Yeah, I can still fly," Krillin nodded, "I feel tired as hell but I still have some power. But nothing like you do."

Trunks looked like he was going to deny everything, then he changed his mind.

"So you know, huh?"

"Of course I did," Krillin said, "You overcame that wall, didn't you? The one that Vegeta and the others tried to break. And Vegeta didn't, didn't he? And him being too proud he hasn't seen it. You're holding back from him."

x

* * *

x

"HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Yelling a mighty warcry Vegeta launched himself at Cell, aiming for the creature's head with his knee. But Cell easily blocked that, to which Vegeta followed up with an elbow strike, which also got blocked. Then the fight began in earnest as Vegeta unleashed a flurry of blows

x

* * *

x

"Dad did surpass the limits of Super Saiyan," Trunks said as he watched his father fight Cell, "He attained incredible power as you can see. But one day I surpassed even that. And then I realized this was what Goku was talking about."

Trunks lowered his head.

"I could never tell my father that, not ever," Trunks said subdued, then he looked up again, "He should have beaten Cell when he had the chance."

"Come," Krillin said as he patted Trunks on his back, "Let's join the others."

x

* * *

x

Vegeta's attacks were halted when Cell struck a violent counter blow, then he jumped backwards at least twenty feet. And there he stood with just a big smirk on his face.

"You're not taking this serious, asshole," Vegeta said angry, to which Cell shrugged indifferently.

"Told you I was just warming up," Cell shrugged.

Vegeta then threw his arms into the air and unleashed blasts of chi that strafed the ground around him.

"FIGHT ME FOR REAL!" Vegeta yelled, "Fight me for real or I will no longer hold back and destroy you where you stand!"

"Alright, if you insist," Cell smirked. Then, moving so fast that he couldn't be seen he disappeared from view and re-appeared behind Vegeta. Vegeta immediately attacked with a straight forward kick to Cell's head. And even though it hit him unopposed Vegeta's kick had as little effect as Krillin's had earlier.

It didn't even wipe the smirk off Cell's face.

Now it was Vegeta's turn to jump back and put some distance between him and Vegeta. A thousand emotions could be read from his face. Was at least one of them the realization that he had made a huge mistake in letting Cell become perfect?

"Super Vegeta alright," Cell laughed unimpressed.

x

* * *

x

On the small hill with the others Krillin turned to Trunks.

"Aren't you going to help him?" Krillin asked.

"Father would rather die then receive my help. Or Goku's. Or basically anyone else's," Trunks said, "That's just who he is."

"Big surprise there," Buffy nodded.

"Do not mock him, young lady," Belmovekk said suddenly chiding, "For all his faults Vegeta is still a Saiyan warrior living by a Saiyan warrior's code. If he chooses death over dishonor then the least we can do for him is abide by his decision."

"Excuse me?" Buffy said incredulously as she looked at Belmovekk, "Did you just take a bath in a big bath of stupid?"

To which Belmovekk didn't reply. Instead he just folded his arms across his chest and resumed watching the fight in silence.

"Saiyans," Buffy muttered as she pointed her finger to the side of her head and made a circular motion.

x

* * *

x

Vegeta also seemed to have lost his tongue as he stared at Cell.

"Come on Vegeta," Cell jeered, "What happened to your enthusiasm? You were so confident."

Then Cell jumped forward and planted his feet against Vegeta's chestplate.

KICK!

Kicked with greet force Vegeta found himself unable to do anything as he was sent back flying hundreds of feet, crashing through trees, until he had finally lost enough speed to stop himself. Steadying himself a few feet above the ground, Vegeta began to pant heavily.

"Oh, did I hurt you?" Cell called after him mocking, "What was it again that you said before? Something about a fight not being entertaining enough when there's too great a distance in power?"

x

* * *

x

On the hill Trunks was balling his fists and gnashing his teeth in anger.

"What are you waiting for, Trunks," Krillin said vehemently, "Help him! Before he gets killed. He'll die if you don't."

"Not yet," Trunks said through gritted teeth, "Not until he's unconscious. Then he won't see that it was me who saved him."

"What a weird family you guys are," Buffy said as she shook her head, "I hope my sisters turn out better."

x

* * *

x

Meanwhile Vegeta slowly put some distance between him and the ground. Then he extended both arms and legs. And then he began to gather in his power.

"RAAAAAAA!" Vegeta yelled as he began to dig deep for every bit of power he could muster.

As the attack began to gather strength winds began to blow, coming from all directions towards Vegeta, like his attack was now a low pressure area sucking in the air from all directions.

Then Vegeta brought his hands in front of him. That's when his attack began to grow even faster in strength.

x

* * *

x

"What is he doing?" Teal'c asked Buffy, as Belmovekk no longer responded to any questions.

"Oh, he's going for the biggest Big Bang that you can find," Buffy replied, "He's going to unleash an attack so big it will completely re-arrange the landscape."

"Oh," Teal'c said a little uncertain, then he got what she was saying, "Indeed."

"Landscape my ass," Krillin said with growing apprehension, "Try re-arranging the planet! He can't fire that off here, he'll get us all killed."

"Make up your mind, Krillin," Belmovekk said unmoved, "First you want Trunks to save Vegeta, now you worry about this planet being destroyed. If Vegeta feels that this planet has to be sacrificed in order to destroy Cell then so be it."

"Yeah, but we're on it as well!" Buffy countered. To which Belmovekk seemed indifferent.

"Great, now they're both on planet Insanity Much."

x

* * *

x

"CELL!" Vegeta yelled, the energy of his attack crackling in front of his outstretched hands, "Does your _complete self_ has the balls to take this heads on?"

x

* * *

x

"He's provoking him," Trunks said, "So he's not going to dodge."

x

* * *

x

Cell didn't respond to Vegeta's taunt. Verbally that is. Instead he just unfolded his arms in front of his chest and began to grin ferally.

x

* * *

x

"He's crazy," Krillin said hyper concerned, "The planet, he's going to blow up the planet!"

Meanwhile, while behind him everybody was talking about something like madmen, Belmovekk watched on calmly. He didn't know why he was this calm. In fact, he thought he had every right to be pissed. Vegeta was endangering their lives. He was endangering Buffy's life. By all rights that should have had him pissed off.

And yet he didn't feel pissed off. Instead he felt a calm resolve to see what would happen. Watch on as a Saiyan warrior reached new heights previously undreamt of. Watch on as he felt a chorus of his ancestors sing in exultation in his blood.

"Show me what you have learned, my prince," he said softly.

x

* * *

x

"FINAL FLASH!" Vegeta yelled.

And then he unleashed his attack.

THOOM!

x

* * *

x

"HOLY CRAP!" Krillin yelled as he saw the massive attack sped towards Cell.

"Gentlemen, a moment of silence," Belmovekk said calmly but impressed, "I think Vegeta just came up with the most powerful chi attack, _ever_!"

"Screw silence," Buffy said as she erected her shields.

x

* * *

x

As he saw the massive energy attack come towards him Cell suddenly experienced pangs of doubt.

"Maybe this wasn't…..," he said, then the attack hit home.

DOOM!

x

* * *

x

As a shower of earth, wood and other debris pelted them the group on the hill looked surprised that they were still alive. Teal'c looked particular shocked at what he had seen.

"W…, we're alive," Krillin stammered.

"Dad must have narrowed the beam," Trunks said relieved.

"Still did a lot of damage though," Buffy said as she pointed to a huge ass trench that now scarred the planet's surface for as far as the eye could see.

"It went into a straight line," Trunks said, "It must have gone into space."

"Remarkable control," Belmovekk said impressed, "But where is Cell?"

x

* * *

x

Watching the huge trench that he had made Vegeta panted heavily. He had to pour everything he had into his attack, causing his current exertion.

"So…, pant, Cell…, pant, does that…, pant, answer…, pant, your question?"

A few hundred feet away Cell was too busy to answer.

Cell's face was grimaced in pain.

He should be.

He had lost his right arm and his right upper torso

"…rrgguh…" was all he could utter.

Seeing that his enemy was now down one arm and part of his torso Vegeta began to smirk again.

"Heh heh heh," he laughed, "it's over."

x

* * *

x

"I can see Cell," Trunks said pointing at the start of the trench.

"He's still alive?" Krillin said surprised, "he must be pissed."

"Oh, he's in pieces alright," Buffy said.

"I see," Krillin said as he saw the damage Vegeta's attack had done to Cell, "He did it! He actually did it!"

"Father really did it," Trunks said as he pumped the air with his fist.

x

* * *

x

"God, it fucking hurts!" Cell grimaced as he looked at the empty space where his arm used to be.

Vegeta on the other hand seemed fairly indifferent to Cell's plight, a sadistic grin adorning his face as he laughed.

"This can't be happening," Cell said aghast, still looking at the damaged parts of his body, "I'm supposed to be perfect!"

"What's up Cell," Vegeta laughed, "feeling a pinch?"

Cell looked at Vegeta with eyes that spelled murder.

"CURSE YOU!" he yelled as his left hand covered the top of his giant wound.

"Hahahaha," Vegeta laughed, by now feeling mighty pleased about himself.

Then Cell stopped grimacing and his smirk returned.

"Guess what?" he smirked, "I was just kidding."

Vegeta stopped laughing.

"Poor Vegeta," Cell sneered, "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. He wants so much and yet never thinks things through. Have you forgotten I have Piccolo's DNA as well?"

Cell then began to concentrate. The blood on his wound stopped oozing through the burned scabs and the actual surface of the wound began to writhe. And then Cell yelled.

"NNNNNYAAAAAAAAH!"

As he yelled a new arm shot forth from the wound, then the rest of the wound healed and closed off as well.

x

* * *

x

"Remarkable," Teal'c exclaimed as he saw it happen.

"NO!" Trunks said dejected.

"Hands up who didn't saw that coming," Buffy said as she raised hers.

x

* * *

x

"So, are we feeling, disappointed?" Cell smirked as he flexed the hand of his new arm, "Surely you could have seen that coming?"

Vegeta was too busy to gnash his teeth to reply.

"Well then," Cell said as he began to throw his new arm around, "Shall I get on with killing you?"

He then walked towards Vegeta.

"Fuck this!" Vegeta yelled, aimed his right hand at Cell and fired off a Big Bang Attack.

DOOM!

The explosion was huge.

As big as the Final Flash would have been if it had detonated on impact instead of having pierced Cell instead.

x

* * *

x

"Whoah," Buffy said as she raised her shields and brought her arm in front of her face. Not for the first time she rued having gotten involved. Maybe staying at the Lookout was a better idea. Maybe….

x

* * *

x

Vegeta followed up his Big Bang Attack with a rapid number of chi blasts, fired off like machine guns into the cauldron of fire. A cauldron that increased in size with every blast fed to it, until its edge was almost in front of Vegeta.

And then, just in between firing more blasts, Cell's smirking face suddenly appeared from the cauldron. And before Vegeta could react a fist came to a very rapid and sudden stop against his face.

Reeling from the impact Vegeta fell to the ground.

"NNNNNNUH!" Vegeta grimaced, his face turning red from various bruises and small wounds. The pain was momentarily unbearable and Vegeta fought to get it under control. As he did, he failed to notice that Cell touched down not that far from him.

So when he finally did open his eyes again he saw Cell standing there grinning over him.

Before he could react Cell kicked him, sending him flying into the air again. Vegeta's motionless body flew upwards until it reached the clouds, then, right before he lost momentum, Cell appeared above him, ready to strike again.

"HAH!" Cell yelled, then he drove his elbow right into the Saiyan Prince's spine.

WHACK!

As he got hit Vegeta opened his eyes. In fact they did more so as they nearly popped out of his skull. Blood spewed from his mouth.

Then the Saiyan Prince sped towards the surface again and landed face first into the ground.

There he didn't move, not even twitch.

And then slowly his hair changed back from gold to black.

x

* * *

x

As soon as the Stargate closed down the feelings of nausea and general ill being died down.

"Thank God," somebody said who had thrown up quite a considerable puddle of vomit.

"Well, that's it for us I guess," Daniel said, looking kind of relieved, "It's now in their hands again."

"I wish I could share your optimism, Daniel," Sam said as she studied the readouts of her computer terminal.

"Why does my stomach tie into little small knots when I hear you saying that," O'Neill said.

"Because even though the Gate has been closed I'm still tracking Cell's strange emanations." Sam said pointing to the screen.

"And that's bad because?" O'Neill asked as he looked at the numbers scrolling on her screen.

Before Sam could reply Daniel spoke up.

"He's practically on the other side of the galaxy," Daniel said surprised, "If the gate's shut down, how can we even track this?"

"That's why it's bad!" Sam said pointing to Daniel, "The speed of light and Einstein's theory of relativity all say that it's impossible."

"So it goes faster then the speed of light," O'Neill shrugged, "What's the deal?"

Sam gave Jack an odd look. The kind that said you've got to be kidding, right? The kind that said didn't you even pay the slightest bit of attention in high school?

"What?" O'Neill said as he looked at Sam, then to Daniel and then back to Sam again.

"What in gods name are we measuring?" Daniel asked as he hunched over Sam to look at the screen.

"I have no idea," Sam said as she slowly shook her head, "But it's scientifically impossible. It's practically dousing the entire galaxy in whatever the hell it is. And it's not being affected by relativity."

"That means everybody can track it," Daniel said.

"I'm afraid so," Sam said.

"That at least I did get," Jack said, then he looked at General Hammond, "We may have to consider a galactic escalation."

x

* * *

x

"Oh no!" Krillin yelled aghast, "Vegeta's no longer a Super Saiyan!"

"He's no longer much of anything," Buffy said, "He's more out then last year's fashion."

Krillin looked at Trunks.

"Trunks, this is your chance, hell, it's your only chance, turn into that Super Super Saiyan now!"

"Now there's a mouthful," Buffy said.

"I know," Trunks said as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Then he looked up to the sky and yelled.

"NNNNNNYAAAAAH!"

Trunk's power skyrocketed. As it did, so did his muscles grew, growing in mass until like Vegeta he looked like a bodybuilder.

But unlike Vegeta it didn't stop there. It just kept on growing and growing until Trunks became like an obscene perversion of a bodybuilder.

One that gave new means to the words illegal steroid abuse.

And then he reached the seeming zenith of his power. And to illustrate it the poor elastic hair band keeping his ponytail together snapped and vanished with a small poof in the energy that kept his hair standing up straight.

And then it stood up straight some more.

x

* * *

x

"Ow, my head hurts."

As he sat up straight Xander looked right into the astonished face of a medic. And a few others who looked equally gobsmacked.

"Holy crap, that shit really works!" one of the soldiers said in shock.

"It can't be," the corpsman said bewildered, "There's no medical reason why it should have worked."

"Who cares how it works, as long as it does work, right?" the soldier said, then he looked at Xander again, "I got to get me some of these."

"Can you get up, son?" the corpsman asked Xander, still not sure he was okay after having been fed half a senzu bean.

"I can once the room stops spinning," Xander said as he clutched his head, then he briefly closed his eyes, "I think I could use a hand."

Half a dozen were extended.

"Gee, one was enough?" Xander said as he grabbed one of them and was pulled to his feet.

"Hey, anyone who fought and bled alongside us is good enough in my book," the soldier who had helped Xander said.

"Uh, hurrah?" Xander said uncertain.

"No, that's what those faggots in the Corps say," the soldier grinned, then he had to evade at least three attempts from insulted Marines trying to hit him on the head.

"Are you alright, Xander?" Mayan said as she got helped on her feet as well.

"I think so," Xander said, then he leaned over towards her and whispered, "I think we made some new friends. Scary man-friends who take showers together and hit each other on the ass with towels."

"If that's the only thing your soldiers do, be glad," Mayan whispered back, then she saw the general and the other SG-1 team members, "What happened? Where's Cell?"

x

* * *

x

Cell had touched down next to Vegeta and noticed he was still alive.

"So you're still alive, dimwit," Cell said on a pitying tone, "I'll put you out of your misery."

Cell aimed his right hand at Vegeta and was about to fire off the killing shot when he suddenly stopped and raised an eyebrow. Then he looked aside, into the distance, where above a hilltop in the distance someone's power was going through the roof.

"What is that?" Cell said surprised, then he recognized who it was, "Trunks?"

x

* * *

x

"Today was not a good day, not a good day at all," Xander muttered as he facepalmed himself. He and Mayan had just been told what had happened, that Cell had now by all probability absorbed Android #18.

"You guys have way too much fun at my expense," Xander muttered aggrieved as he looked upwards, "Hell, too much fun at _our_ expense!"

"So what now?" Mayan asked as she sat down on one of the chairs.

"What do you mean, what now?" O'Neill said and pointed to the Stargate, "He's out there now. There's not a whole lot we can do."

"Not until tomorrow, at least," Daniel quickly added.

"Yeah, I'd forgotten that magical place in the sky, in Heaven," O'Neill said as he closed his eyes, "The one that the current Administration would go apoplectic over once they learn that some demi-God hovers over American soil in his magic little hidden kingdom."

"Well, to be fair, he is no more," Xander countered, causing O'Neill to really squeeze his closed eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Oh yes, God can be killed. I'm sure the White House will be so thrilled to hear that as well."

"Here's another thing you can thrill the White House with," Xander said and pointed towards the Stargate, "If you value the lives of your men you better evacuate this base because soon Cell will be coming back through that Gate of yours and this time I don't fancy facing him again for round two."

"Don't be an idiot," O'Neill snorted, "He hasn't got the dialing address to get back to Earth."

"Well then, Captain Crunch," Xander said, "Consider this, he managed to get there and find them. What makes you think he can't repeat that little feat again."

O'Neill wanted to say something, something really snarky, then he changed his mind.

"God, do I hate Saiyans," he muttered dejected, "He's right. He will come back through the Gate."

"We can't face him again," Sam said concerned, "We barely survived him the last time."

"Maybe we should blow the place up," O'Neill suggested, "Let him materialize into solid rock?"

"That won't stop him," Xander said shaking his head, "You'll probably only serve to piss him off more. Couldn't do to have the Earth blow before Goku's ready."

"How about dismantling the Stargate?" Daniel suggested.

"No, that would take too long," Sam said as shook her head, "It will take at least several hours to do so. Even more with the SGC in its current condition."

"Then we have no choice," General Hammond said, "We will evacuate the SGC while a skeleton team remains to deactivate the Stargate."

"You're possibly condemning those men to death, sir," Sam said.

"Well, maybe our two other Saiyan friends will buy us the time they need," General Hammond said as he smiled weakly.

"I'll give the orders," O'Neill said and walked away.

"Can you activate that thing and send us over there?" Xander said, again pointing to the Stargate.

"The main generator is out," Sam said, "Unless you power it yourself, there's no way we can turn it on again."

"Crap!" Xander muttered, then his eyes lit up, "Then show me how I can power it up and I'll do it."

"That might not be such a good idea if we're going to have to deactivate it," Sam countered.

"Crap!" Xander muttered again.

"How about the Stargate on board of the Enterprise?" General Hammond suggested, "If we transfer you there you could use its Gate."

Xander and Mayan looked at each other.

"If you could do that we would be very grateful."

"I'll ask the Enterprise's commander to teleport you," General Hammond said.

"There's one thing I don't understand," Daniel said as he looked through the window towards the Stargate.

"What is that, Daniel?" Sam asked.

"How did Cell know where to go?"

x

* * *

x

"Wh…, what a lot of energy," Krillin said in shock as he saw Trunks' Super Super Saiyan form, "I'll never get used to these Saiyans."

"Tell me about it," Buffy echoed as she shook her head, "Normally I'd say this is overkill, but with Cell…."

"Just enough kill?" Krillin asked looking at her.

"If we're lucky," she replied.

"How can one being generate so much power?" Teal'c said looking at Trunks, then he looked at Belmovekk, "No wonder the Sons of Priya revere Satiya."

"You mean like in worship?" Buffy asked, to which the Jaffa shook his head.

"They respect his power," Teal'c said, "but they do know he is not a god. They know he is only the Disciple of Aldur instead."

"Then how come they don't worship Aldur instead?" Buffy asked curious.

"Aldur refuses to be worshiped," Teal'c replied, "A worthy god, if he is one."

"Krillin!" Trunks suddenly said, his voice now laden with power as well, he then held out the remaining senzu piece, "Once I engage Cell, take father somewhere safe. If by chance the Stargate reopens again take him through it. And only give him this senzu piece when the time is right.

Then the half Saiyan looked at Teal'c.

"I'm ashamed to say that I barely know you, warrior from another world, but could you please help Krillin in making sure my father remains safe?"

"I shall do as you ask, Golden One," Teal'c said as he bowed his head.

"But Trunks," Krillin protested, "What if you need a senzu?"

"Don't worry about me," Trunks said as he began to smirk a very Saiyan smirk, "I won't be needing one. I plan on winning."

"And the question is: Famous last words?" Buffy quipped but nobody responded.

"Trunks!" Belmovekk suddenly said before the young man was about to head off towards Cell.

"Yeah?" Trunks asked.

"You will make a fine husband to Mayan. But please, do not embarrass the House of Movekk. Bring us glory, or do not come back at all."

Trunks gave Belmovekk a brief odd look, then he smiled back.

"I love you too, father-in-law."

And then he was off.

x

* * *

x

"Then why did Cell go there?" Daniel asked curious, "Did anybody here tell him where Teal'c was heading?"

"I couldn't even tell him where Teal'c was heading if I wanted too," O'Neill said as he picked up a telephone, "Teal'c's supposed to be on a completely random course, remember!"

"Then how did he know where to go?" Daniel asked again, "he must have learned something. He wouldn't just go to some random location now would he?"

"Daniel's right," General Hammond concurred, "Something happened. One moment he was ranting like a lunatic, the next he seemed like he knew exactly what to do."

"Doesn't that strike you as odd?" Daniel said, to which General Hammond didn't respond.

"I don't like odd. Especially odd coincidences," Xander said, then he looked at Mayan, "Do you like odd coincidences?"

"I like things boring and predictable," Mayan said deadpan.

"Me too," Xander said pretending to be shocked, "Let's get married once this is over."

"Trunks wouldn't like that," Mayan said shaking her head.

"He can kiss my shiny golden heiny," Xander grinned, "I'm a Super Saiyan now too, remember?"

"To bad we can't see what happened," Mayan sighed.

"Maybe we can," Sam said as she punched in some commands on her computer terminal, "the control room does have closed circuit cameras."

"Close circuit cameras?" Mayan asked puzzled, "You mean like in the old movies?"

"What do you mean old movies?" Sam said back puzzled, then she remembered, "I forgot, you're from the future."

As Sam tried to find the camera footage of what had happened Xander turned to Mayan.

"You don't have hidden cameras in Capsule Corp. in the future?" he asked baffled.

"We were strapped for electronics long before Bulma built the time machine," Mayan replied, "When she did she had to cannibalize every piece of electronic she could lay her hands on. She even had to cannibalize the gravity gym. Trust me, there's not a whole lot of working electronics left."

"I think I have found the footage," Sam said, then everybody looked at the screen, where Cell appeared, dragging the bodies of Mayan and Xander along.

"Why's he dragging us along?" Mayan asked.

"Because he wanted a snack?" Xander shrugged, "Let's ask him. Oops, we can't."

"Oh Christ, Evan," Sam said horrified as she saw Cell absorb a technician she knew.

"Bastard!" Daniel concurred.

"And there he goes," Xander said after the footage was finished, "He just went."

"Something's wrong," Sam said, then she dragged the video window's slider back, "Let's watch it again!"

x

* * *

x

"Cell! It's time! I have come to kill you."

Still standing over Vegeta Cell slowly looked over his shoulder towards Trunks, who just touched down not that far from him.

Cell's face first looked appraising, like he wasn't sure what to make of it, then a smirk began to grow on his face instead.

"That's a bold statement, Trunks," Cell said as he chuckled softly. Then the two fighters walked towards each other until they faced each other just a feet away from one another. Staring each other in the face. Cell with calm resolve, Trunks with growing anger so intense you'd expect him to make the first move.

Despite that it wasn't Trunks who attacked first. Cell did.

Making a hyper fast kick to Trunks' head, Cell's leg swept upward, a move which the young half-Saiyan dodged by leaning backwards. He immediately counterattacked with a punch to Cell's face.

But in doing so he allowed himself to be exposed. And as Cell dodged the punch he drove his fist deep into Trunks' stomach. Cell followed up his attack with a kick that sent the half-Saiyan back at least a hundred feet, skidding over the ground until he came to a stop.

x

* * *

x

"Now that's not very impressive," Buffy said as she scratched the back of her head, "For all his powering up he doesn't seem to be delivering much."

"He's leading Cell away from Vegeta," Krillin said, "So we can rescue him. Now, just a bit further…"

Then without saying a word Belmovekk brought two fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

"Or we can do that," Krillin said flabbergasted.

x

x

Trunks had received a number of spectacular smackdowns at the hands of Cell when he suddenly saw Belmovekk flash into existence next to his father's limp body. Then the Saiyan shouldered his father, brought two fingers to his forehead and disappeared again.

He hadn't expected Belmovekk to do anything, considering his odd behavior, but he was glad for the assist, no matter why he did it. At least now he was free to concentrate fully on Cell.

So he got to his feet and faced Cell again. Who just smirked at him.

"So, now that Vegeta has been rescued, are you _finally_ going to fight me?" Cell said, much to Trunks' surprise.

"Huh," he even said before getting a grip on himself, "I don't understand? I didn't think you would let him go?"

"Why not?" Cell shrugged indifferent, "I have no more interest in him. He ceased to amuse me."

Then Cell leaned forward and smirked some more.

"It's _your_ power that I'm interested in now."

It then dawned upon Trunks that while Cell may be of a completely different design then the androids he had grown up with, he was still a Gero type android through and through. Games within games within games.

"I can't wait," Cell said almost…, excited? "It's time to know just how powerful I've really become now that I'm complete. It's enough to make me feel…. giddy?"

"Well," Trunks said as he assumed a power up stance, "Here comes your chance then."

And then Trunks powered up even more.

x

* * *

x

"There!"

As Sam pointed to the frozen security footage on the screen of her computer terminal everybody looked more closely.

"I don't understand," Daniel said looking at the imagery, "What am I supposed to see?"

"You didn't see it?" Sam said incredulously as she looked over her shoulder at Daniel for a moment, "Not even if I go frame by frame?"

Which she then did.

"I see it now too," Xander nodded as he began to bite his lip.

"I don't," Mayan said, "What am I supposed to see?"

"Do it again," Xander said to the major, then he pointed to the slow moving frames, "He moves. Not much, but one moment he's ranting, then he goes straight to the computer. But something happens in between that we're not seeing because, there, you see it, his position has shifted. He was there, now he stands here."

"It's just a foot length," Daniel countered, "And you people have been known to move awfully fast. Sam here even developed a slow motion algorithm so we could still see you move."

"Yeah, but Daniel, I would expect at least to see some kind of blurring when that happens," Sam said, then she pointed towards the screen again, "This is like we're missing something."

"So are we missing something?" Daniel asked, "Did somebody tamper with our security footage and removed some of it."

"That's the strange part," Sam said as she shook her head, "It doesn't look like it. The time coding is uninterrupted. It's almost like time stood still, he moved, then time began moving again."

"Maybe he's got a stasis generator?" Daniel said flabbergasted.

"Maybe, it does look like it," Sam said lost for words.

"And maybe he got help," Xander suggested, causing everybody to look at him, "There are some demon species known to be able to mess with time."

"This is getting weirder and weirder," Daniel said shaking his head in dejection.

"Maybe if I had some more time I could do some more analysis on these recordings," Sam sighed, "But with the evacua…."

Before Sam could explain further General Hammond joined them.

"The commander of the Enterprise is ready to take you on board," he said to Xander and Mayan, "And SG-24 has volunteered to come along as well."

"Let's go then," Mayan said, "Trunks is out there facing Cell. This can wait for another time."

"Yeah but…," Xander tried to say but Mayan grabbed him by the shoulder.

"No time, boyfriend in danger," she said as she dragged him along.

"Major, if I were you I'd sent that footage to Willow Rosenberg back in Sunnydale," Xander called out as Mayan dragged him out of the control room, "Ask her to check for signs of magical tampering."

x

* * *

x

"Good to see you finally do something again," Buffy said as Belmovekk re-appeared next to them, "What's wrong with you? You're even more Saiyany then usual."

"As long as his father was in the way Trunks could not live up to his full potential," Belmovekk said as he handed Vegeta's limp body over to Krillin and Teal'c.

"So that's what this is? Some Saiyan pissing contest?" Buffy yelled, "a game as to see who's got the biggest set of wrinklies? Maybe if we coordinate our attacks…"

"No," Belmovekk said as he shook his head, "No joint attacks on Cell. Just Trunks."

"I hate it when you go like that!" Buffy said as she threw her hands in the air in disgust, "It's all one big pissing contest to you Saiyans!"

"No, it is about mind over matter," Belmovekk said as he resumed watching Cell and Trunks again, "Cell no longer minds us, because we no longer matter."

"That's it!" Buffy said reprimanding, "When this is over, no more Clint Eastwood for you!"

x

* * *

x

WOOSH!

With one massive eruption of his chi Trunks had reached his full power. Surrounded by golden chi flames of insane proportions he began to smirk at Cell.

"Now, what you're about to see is my true power," he said in a smug tone of voice.

"Yes, and what magnificent power it is," Cell said, then he casually folded his arms across his chest, "Your power far surpasses mine."

Okay, now that casual admission Trunks hadn't seen coming. Then Cell continued.

"Nevertheless, you're not going to defeat me," he said as he tapped the side of his nose, "That I can pretty much guarantee."

Trunks gave him a brief dumbfounded look, then he resumed smirking again.

"You're bluffing," he said.

And then he charged Cell.

x

* * *

x

With the fight having left the general vicinity of the Stargate nobody was around when suddenly the Gate came back to life again. Seven symbols got encoded, then the Gate erupted with its usual geyser like explosion.

Next thing the event horizon stabilized and seven people came through it. Two of them were wearing blue and white Saiyan armor, the others camouflage green.

"Holy spadoinkle," Xander said as he saw the devastation around them, the craters, large swaths of the forest cut down, a huge ass trench going into infinity.

"I think we're in the right place alright," Mayan said.

"Enterprise, this is SG-24, we have hit the jackpot," one of the soldiers spoke into a radio, "I repeat, we have hit the jackpot."

In response the Stargate shut down behind them.

Within seconds several people touched down next to them and the Stargate.

"Noooooo!" Krillin yelped in frustration as the Stargate had stopped working, "We needed that!"

He and Teal'c put down Vegeta's limp body, after which Teal'c made for the Stargate controller.

"We could have used it to escape," Krillin said defeated as he sat down on the Stargate platform.

"Why not use the controller?" one of the soldiers asked.

"It has been disabled, sergeant," Teal'c said as he opened the controller's access panel, "Cell used it to trap us here. It can only be activated off world."

"So you mean….," one of the other soldiers said.

"Yup, right into a trap," Krillin said

Two more people touched down, it was Buffy and Belmovekk.

"Xander, why are you here?" Buffy said surprised.

"Couldn't have you have all the fun, now could we?" Xander grinned, then he put his arm around Mayan's shoulder, "We thought we would come visit you personally so we could tell you of our engagement!"

Two girls now looked very oddly at Xander.

"Xander, that's her boyfriend over there fighting Cell," Buffy said pointing into the distance, where two tiny dots could be seen moving in the air.

"Good, then he can't hear me," Xander grinned, "So, what did I miss?"

x

* * *

x

As Cell came down to the ground, he immediately rolled on his side, thus evading Trunks' fist as it slammed into the ground. As the ground caved in to form a huge crater Cell was already up, with Trunks in hot pursuit, throwing another punch after Cell. Almost hitting Cell with enough force to cause some serious damage.

Almost…..

x

* * *

x

"Incredible," Mayan said as she watched her boyfriend fight Cell. Both of their chi's were completely off the scale, to a level previously unimagined. Hell, if Trunks now were to return back home he could probably destroy both androids as easily as they had always beaten both him and her in the past. It was….. surreal?

Her father, her sister, Xander and the SG commander were talking, discussing what had happened both here and back at the SGC. Meanwhile she noticed that Krillin seemed more concerned with Teal'c and one of the soldiers as they were trying to get the Stargate back on line.

"Is it working, Teal'c?" Krillin asked worried.

"It saddens me to say that I'm not, Master Krillin," Teal'c said calmly as he peered intently into the Stargate control access panel, "Whatever Cell did to gain control of this device, I cannot replicate that feat."

"If we can't leave this planet we may have to go to a different place then this," Krillin said, "That medic says that Vegeta might awaken at any moment."

"With all due respect to Master Trunks' wishes, the last thing on my mind is sparing Vegeta's feelings," Teal'c replied not taking his eyes of the control panel's electronics, "This planet is completely uninhabited with no other means for us to get away then through the Stargate. In my opinion getting the Stargate working again takes precedence over us sparing Vegeta's sensibilities that his son is superior to him."

Mayan couldn't find a single fault with Teal'c's logic, all the more so because he was only trying to do so out of respect for Trunks, not Vegeta. Who in her opinion didn't deserve any of it because he was responsible for the whole mess they were currently in. She didn't get Krillin's obsession with wanting to carry out her boyfriend's wish. Sure, she was willing to do a lot for him, but there were limits to her desire to please him. And his father represented such a limit.

As Teal'c and the soldiers labored to get the Stargate working Mayan let them do their thing and joined her father, her sister and the SG commander as they were watching the fight between Trunks and Cell.

"I don't get it," Buffy said as she slowly shook her head in disbelief, "He's got all that raw power, he's stronger then Cell, and yet, why's Cell still in this game?"

"I am not sure," Belmovekk replied as he studied the fight, "Something is amiss. Maybe Cell has…."

Then the Saiyan stopped and his eyes grew big as saucers.

"Oh no," he said horrified, "Please me tell that he has not…."

"What?" Mayan asked worried, "What did he do?"

Belmovekk didn't reply. Instead he arched his back, balled his fists and began to raise his power.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As he yelled his power shot upwards explosively, way beyond his max that Mayan had experienced before. As it did Belmovekk's muscles began to grow until like Trunks he too had turned himself into a grotesque caricature of a body builder.

"You too?" Krillin said as he watched the Saiyan ascend, "You didn't even go into the Room of Spirit and Time."

"You do not need to," Belmovekk said as he stopped powering up and tried to flex his bulky muscles, "Now I understand what Trunks and Vegeta really did in that chamber."

x

* * *

x

Meanwhile Trunks tried to pulverize Cell's head, and like before he hit empty air as the biological android easily evaded him. Next he tried with a spinning kick, which Cell evaded by jumping into the air. Another missed punch to Cell's chest had Trunks grinding his teeth in frustration.

Next thing Trunks followed it up by a flurry of kicks and punches that Cell neatly evaded, with a growing smirk on his face, causing Trunks to give air to his frustration.

"STAND STILL, DAMMIT!"

x

* * *

x

"This form has impressive power," Belmovekk said as everybody but the still unconscious Vegeta looked at him dumbstruck, "But it is not the form of Super Saiyan beyond Super Saiyan. What they really did was increase their strength dramatically to the edge of what Super Saiyan allows for. That is all."

Then the Saiyan closed his eyes and his huge puffed up body returned to normal.

"This ascended form offers huge increases in strength. And that is all it does," Belmovekk said panting from the exertion.

"But that would mean losing speed, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yes," Belmovekk nodded, "And that is why Trunks is unable to land a single blow on Cell. Vegeta must have found the ceiling at which both power and speed were still balanced. But Trunks in his eagerness must have gone beyond that and forgotten that strength without speed means nothing."

"So then it's hopeless?" Mayan asked aghast, "There's no way for him to beat Cell?"

Belmovekk cupped his chin and briefly thought things over.

"Well, I suppose he might get in a lucky blow. Technically he only really needs to hit Cell for good once."

x

* * *

x

Having fought Cell now for over several minutes, Trunks had disengaged from Cell to catch a breather. Shooting looks of pure venom at the thing he meanwhile tried to make sense of why he wasn't able to land a single decisive blow.

"Impossible!" he blurted out panting, "H-how can this be? Why can't I get him?"

"You're such an amateur," Cell said back calmly, "Haven't you figured it out yet? I didn't think you were this dumb. You said you'd show me your true power and admittedly, stupidly I believed you. Then all you did was change into a form that relies completely on brute strength."

Then to Trunks' horror Cell balled his fists, and like himself, his muscles almost exploded as they doubled in size and bulk.

"A change like that is nothing," Cell smirked triumphantly, "Any fool can do it. Even that annoying Saiyan near the Stargate could do it."

Then Cell stopped smirking and his body returned to normal.

"You're a fool, Trunks," Cell said disappointed, "This transformation delivers nothing of consequence, just brute strength."

Having watched Cell's demonstration with eyes big as saucers, Trunks let his arms slump by his side.

"So that's why Father chose not to go all the way," he said defeated, "He knew this would happen. Cell is right. I'm an idiot."

Then Trunk's detransformed all the way back to normal, and landed a few feet in front of Cell.

"I have lost my will to fight," Trunks said downcast, "Kill me."

x

* * *

x

AN2017: _I try to post a new update every evening, but there will be no updates on friday and saterday, as I will be working on a festival. Normal scheduling will resume on sunday._


	29. Interlude 'A Race Through Dark Places'

**Interlude**

' **A Race Through Dark Places'**

x

x

AN: _This was where I decided to break with the previous pattern of writing a chapter, then an interlude, then another chapter again, becoming should I say… intrigued with the alternate future timeline story. So I decided to finish that one first before returning to the main story. Weird how what started out as a simple side story can take over so much._

x

* * *

x

A-Day+13 years, 1 months, 18 days, somewhere, sometime

x

(Excerpts from the diary of Bulma Briefs)

It's been almost six months since Gohan went to face the androids and didn't return on his own. It was only because of the wireless comms that we knew Gohan had run into serious trouble and that Trunks and Mayan had to come and get him. They found him more dead then alive. So bad in fact that we had to risk using the company helicopter to bring him back. Not that they couldn't carry him, but because it was too dangerous to move him otherwise. So bad in fact that the surgeons thought it was a miracle that he was still alive. That he was lucky that the androids had cauterized his arm.

I know better of course.

The androids were trying to deliver a message. And it makes no sense to let the messenger die before he can deliver his message right? So right after they tore off his left arm they made sure he wouldn't bleed to death.

If only I knew what the message was that he had to deliver!

So far it seems I can't get him to talk about it as he shrouds himself in silence. Whatever it was, it had to be pretty big. As a consequence he's become even more withdrawn then he used to be.

He's also pretty much stopped training Trunks and Mayan. Leaving it to the kids to train themselves. At first because he had to recover from losing his arm. But then because he flat out refused. Instead he locked himself up in his room, only coming out to eat or go to the bathroom.

Only recently did he start coming out again and began taking the kids under his wing again. But not to physically train them. With Trunks he seems to want to find a way for him to become a Super Saiyan. For Mayan he has something different in mind. Our old worst nightmare ever since Goku was a kid.

Ozaru!

I thought he was absolutely bonkers when he proposed the idea, but he seems quite convinced. When I questioned him about he says he does not know if women can go Super Saiyan, that he wasn't sexist and that he just wanted to make sure that she had something to fall back on in case his suspicions were true. He also claims that from discerning Vegeta's old notes he thinks he now knows how Vegeta was both able to create an artificial moon and maintain control when going Ozaru.

At the time I declared he was bonkers. But now that I think about it I fear something else's going on. It's almost like he's planning to leave us and get as much things in order as he can. I should really hound him on this but other then guiding Trunks and Mayan on how to transcend he's become even more elusive.

At least Jonesy seems happy with the current state of affairs as it means considerable less wear and tear on 'his' beloved gravity gym.

Still, too bad for Jonesy it still sees a lot of use. Not only do Trunks and Mayan use it to keep up with their training, Trunks has decided to venture out into become a teacher of his own.

After Gohan refused to train this new Slayer Wesley somehow managed to convince Trunks to train his Slayer instead. So now he finds himself training Jacky two hours a day.

Much to the chagrin of Mayan I might add who feels threatened by this new girl in Trunks' life.

I can't say I blame her. While I don't think that my son is going to fall for the charms of another woman, Mayan has never had to contend with having a potential rival in her life. It's all part of growing up I might add. It would even be cute if it weren't for the dire situation that we're in. I think I'll have a talk with her, woman to woman, to let her know that while it's okay to keep my son on edge, after all, all men need to be kept on a short leash, she should be careful not to overdo it. After all, it wouldn't do to drive my son into the arms of Jacky and create the very thing you are afraid off.

x

* * *

x

"I spoke to your sister today. I think for once we had an actual good chat, until your name came up again. After that the conversation went all pear shaped and she stomped off again. Funny, the way she did it reminded me so much of you it almost hurt. And that's ignoring that when you look at her she's almost exactly like you. I have to admit though, black hair suits you. Not that I had anything against your beautiful blonde hair, but you know, variety being the spice of life and such."

"I'm sorry that she won't come to see you. That she pretends like you don't exist anymore. Each time she says that a little part of me dies inside. Hell, I killed my own family and now I miss them more then ever. People shouldn't say things like that. Life's precious enough as it is already. She shouldn't waste what little time we have left together. Especially in this day and age. Still, I'm more convinced now then ever that she does care. She's just hiding it behind her anger to protect herself emotionally. It wouldn't be the first time something like this happened."

"Trunks told me Jacky is doing fine. I'm glad for that. When we found her she had such a very tough life. It's hard trying to survive out in the open, it's even harder when your own family rejects you. She was so grateful when we found her and told her why things had happened to her and what her purpose is going to be. She's so well motivated to help fight the androids. And she's such a nice girl in general. She has the fighting spirit of Faith, the dedication of Kendra and your zest for life. I'm so glad Trunks chose to train her. Even if it doesn't always sit well with your sister. Jealousy, what can you do about it, right?"

"Of course things could have gone better if Gohan was training her, but he's taken the loss of his arm very hard it would seem. Would you believe that anyone could brood even more and harder then me? Funny, ain't it? I guess he needs time. Once he gets out of his funk and starts training again I'm sure that he will embrace Jacky as well as he did the others."

"I'm glad Bulma gave me a place to stay so I could care for you. It's in the basement, where else? But I don't mind as at least I'm near you now. The nurse that I replaced was okay, she did her job well, but ultimately she didn't know you like I did. This…, this is special, this is how it's supposed to be. Well, not completely as you're in your present condition, but I rather have this then nothing at all. And in a sense this way we're all together again. There's not a whole lot of us left you know. There's you, me, your sister and Wesley. For a while I even heard rumors that Spike was still alive somewhere in South America. But that's hard to check nowadays. And that's the one good thing about these androids, they don't discriminate between humans and vampires. Or any other demon for that matter. They just kill everybody. It's an equal opportunity genocide."

"Bulma tells me that the androids continue to attack settlements in what used to be the Western United States. She thinks that they're trying to get a response out of Gohan. In the past he used to go out when they were relatively close by and fight them. But now he continues to stay in his room and brood. Maybe that's the smart thing to do. Obviously they want something from him, in which case the smart thing is to not give it too them. Eventually they will grow bored and move along. That's what they always do."

"San Francisco is an interesting place once you have lived for years out there. It feels weird to be among people again who walk out in the open. And so many of them. Odd how you can get used to…."

"Are you still wasting time here?" a new voice said sounding fretful.

As Angel stopped talking to Buffy he saw Mayan standing in the door opening.

"I'll be here every day until the day she dies," Angel said unrepentant.

"Going by the current rate that could be a long time," Mayan said deprecative, "She may outlive us all before the Androids finally kill her."

"We'll see," Angel said.

For a moment Mayan didn't reply as she tried very hard not to look at Buffy lying in her bed.

"Maybe you should put her out of her misery," she finally said.

"Put who out of her misery?" Angel retorted.

"You know who I mean," Mayan said vexed.

"I have absolutely no idea," Angel said as a smile grew on his face, then he pretended to have a revelation, "Oh, you mean your sister?"

"I have no sister," Mayan growled as she turned around, "Oh, and FYI, there's a message for you from Wesley."

"Did you hear that, Buffy?" Angel said after Mayan had left, "she referred to you in the third person. I think we're making progress here."

x

* * *

x

Contrary to what people were thinking Gohan wasn't just locking himself up in his bedroom, brooding over the loss of his arm.

In fact not only was that the least of his worries, Gohan was actually keeping a keen interest on things and using a map of the former United States and needles to keep meticulous track of the androids' recent attacks. And unlike Bulma he knew exactly what they were after. More importantly, he knew exactly who they were after.

Which was why he was determined not to give it to them!

In a sense the loss of his arm was a god sent, as it forced him to explore other ways of thinking that until recently he had completely ignored in favor of what they used to call 'pumping more iron'.

It was in a sense what he, and the other fighters for that matter, had always done in the past. When a fighter came along of exceptional power everybody would rise to the occasion and come up with ways to match said fighter's power and eventually surpass him. Of course along the way there would be lots of getting beat up, some might die, then get revived, some McGuffin or applied phlebotinum would be chased down, then found to increase power. In the end his father would rise to new levels and defeat the Big Bad.

Of course the androids had thrown a big wrench into this well oiled machine.

First by killing everybody else but him. And while he had tried to be like his father, he just wasn't no where near the man his father was. Nor did he have a dedicated support team like his father had, as the androids just kept killing anybody he tried to train for that role. He had tried to train both Xander and Buffy and the androids killed them once they reached a level where they could actually make a difference. Next Faith got herself killed. And now they had their eyes on Trunks and Mayan. And if that girl Trunks was training got to a certain level Gohan had no doubt she would find herself with a serious case of death as well.

No, losing his arms was a god sent! Instead of trying to be like his father he had forgotten the other part of his other heritage. The scholar his mother had wanted him to be. It was clear that after 13 years of fighting the androids and an endless string of defeats that there was no victory to be had pumping iron. Something else had to be done.

And after six months of recovering and being cooped up in his room he thought he finally had the answer. Well, actually he came up with the answer while he was still recovering from losing his arm. It just took him until now to work things out and get his affairs into order.

"We interrupt this program with a breaking android alert," the announcer on the radio said matter of fact, "the settlement of New Cloverfield, in the 40th Divisional Command north of the Greater San Francisco Area is reported to be under attack. I repeat the settlement of New Cloverfield, 40th Divisional Command, north of the Greater San Francisco Area is reported to be under attack by the androids. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you all and may God have mercy on your souls."

The radio then began to play a mournful musical piece of remembrance, but Gohan paid no attention as he switched off the radio. He had the news that he was waiting for.

Placing three sealed envelopes on his desk, Gohan then switched off the light and left his room. Making sure that nobody was watching he made his way through the Capsule Corp. grounds. It was perfect. Trunks was busy teaching the new Slayer, the vampire was busy taking care of the old Slayer, Bulma was in her lab and Mayan was nowhere to be seen.

In hindsight he should have known that there was no such thing as things going perfect in this day and age.

As he launched himself into the air he suddenly found Mayan floating in front of him.

"And where do you think you're going?" she said as she barred his way.

"I'm off to do some personal training," Gohan said straight faced, but Mayan seemed unimpressed.

"Funny," she said as she folded her arms across her chest, "You just happen to go off for some personal training after locking yourself in your room for six months straight. And just when the androids just happen to attack New Cloverfield. Which just happens to lie directly behind me."

A thousand scenarios and potential excuses went through Gohan's mind, then he rejected them all and began to laugh.

"I never could keep any secrets from you," he laughed, "You were always the smart one. What gave it away?"

"All those personal sessions," Mayan said, "the Ozaru stuff. It was almost like you were planning to go away and make sure we could survive on our own."

"Yeah, you are definitely the smart one," Gohan said.

"So why the deception, Sensei?" Mayan asked, "Why the sneaking about, why the charade?"

"Because I'm going to fight the androids," Gohan said, "And I didn't want either of you two to come along. Because now that I'm down one arm you two aren't going to sit back. And I won't have your deaths on my conscience."

"I think you're full of it," Mayan said appraisingly, "You're down one arm and you haven't trained in months. I don't think you are planning to go and fight the androids. At least not a plan where you come back afterwards. Not in one piece and alive that is."

"Again, way too smart to be outsmarted," Gohan sighed, then he closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "You want to truth? Well, here's the truth."

Gohan then proceeded to tell the hidden game plan that the androids had revealed to him, the reason that San Francisco had been spared and what that the androids were demanding.

"Tha…, that's…, that's absurd," Mayan said horrified as the full implications of what Gohan had revealed hit her, "No, this can't be! It cannot!"

"It is," Gohan nodded sympathetically, "I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. And that's the way it has been for a long time now."

"No," Mayan said as she shook her head in denial, "It can't be! Uncle Xander, dead! Auntie Willow, dead! Faith, dead! My sister, Buffy, a fucking vegetable! And all just for that? No!"

"And that is exactly why I have to go alone," Gohan said, "We have to break the cycle. I must break the cycle. It's the only way to give us a chance. To give you a chance. Otherwise we're doomed to go on like this! That's why I didn't want to train the new Slayer. It's pointless. And only serves their purposes."

"I see," Mayan said downcast, "So what are you going to do?"

Gohan then told her what he had in mind, inspired by the notes that Vegeta had made, written down after Goku's death robbed him of the chance to defeat his rival in battle and satisfy his desire for vengeance through combat. When he had been so depressed that in order to break his funk he had began to note down his knowledge of Saiyan martial arts. Knowledge which until a year ago had been gathering dust in a box in some Capsule Corp. storage room.

"No!" Mayan said horrified as she realized what Gohan was planning to do, "You can't do that! There has to be some other way! It just…."

"And here I was thinking you were the smart one," Gohan said dispirited, then he shook his head, "There is no other way."

"No, I refuse to accept that," Mayan said as she shook her head, "Now you're sounding just like auntie Willow. Remember the letter she left us? You just sound just like her."

"Willow was smart," Gohan concurred, "Supersmart in fact. She was just quicker to catch on to reality then the rest of us. Which is why I have to do this. So you and Trunks won't have to."

"No Gohan, listen, there has to be a better way," Mayan said, "We can think of something, maybe…."

"I have thought it over, Mayan," Gohan said, "There is nothing left to think off, just things being put into motion. Objects in motion and objects at rest. Now stand aside."

"No!" Mayan said resolute, "I won't let you do it. I'm not going to…."

SMACK!

Before she could finish her sentence Gohan drove his knee into her stomach, then as she buckled over he hit her in the neck and it was lights out for her.

"For a smart girl you should have seen that coming," Gohan said as he grabbed her before she could fall, then he floated downwards and placed her gently on a roof. Making sure she was alright he briefly examined her, then he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"If you were my daughter I would have been so proud of you," he said as he smiled briefly, "I love you, Mayan Summers Movekk. Thanks for having been in my life."

Next thing Gohan took off and rapidly flew north until he had passed the northern border of the Greater San Francisco Area. There he transformed into Super Saiyan and sped north even faster.

x

* * *

x

As she put her hands in front of her Jacqueline tried to concentrate.

Feel the energy flowing, Trunks had said. Try to feel the energy that was flowing inside your body, then try to nudge it forward, push it towards the chakra's that were in your hands and bring it out. Try to make a little ball of energy. Just that.

Like it was so goddamn easy!

This was fucking hard!

She could feel the energy flow. After six months of extensive training she'd better well should be. It was the whole bringing it out part that had her mystified. She'd rather pound into something concrete instead. Or do 2000 sit up crunches, or train under 10 G's of gravity. Or something else that was easy.

This was fucking hard!

She had just finished her own training in the gym, the physical part at least, the final part of course was where she had to work on her chi. And the more she tried to make it happen, the less success she seemed to have.

Stupid chi nonsense!

Of course it didn't help that as she was trying to concentrate on her chi-a-ma-bob Trunks was doing his exercises.

Ah, Trunks!

He was such a nice boy.

Always willing to help her, always patient when she didn't get something, always going the extra mile for her if need be.

And so easy on the eyes as well.

There were times when she wanted to jump his bones, or drag him off to her room for some 'personal training'. God how she wanted him right now. The way he moved, his well toned body, the nice curve of his well shaped ass. Mmmm, delicious.

Of course nothing could come of it, for two reasons.

First he seemed totally oblivious to the fact that she was head over heels in love with him. Which in a way added considerably to his charm. It gave him a touch of innocence and who doesn't like that, right?

Secondly, and most important, he was having a relationship with Mayan. And if she and Trunks would ever do the horizontal nasty it would break her heart. And while frankly Jacqueline couldn't care less about breaking Mayan's heart, would in very fact welcome it if she would meet a very unfortunate sad death at the hands of the androids, the truth of the matter was that Mayan could kill her in so many ways it probably wasn't even funny.

Plus she had actually told Jacqueline that she would do so if she ever discovered something was going on.

On multiple occasions!

No, it was probably best not to anger Mayan Summers Movekk. Hell hath no greater fury then a woman scorned. Especially one that was as crazy as she was. Saiyan crazy! The worst kind!

So instead she resorted to daydreaming about being Misses Trunks instead. Less satisfying, but also way less dangerous. And who knew, maybe the androids would one day make her dream come true. Then, almost unbeknown to her as she dreamily watched Trunks do his routine, a small node of energy began to flicker between her hands.

"TRUNKS! TRUNKS!"

Without even bothering for the gravity to return to normal the door to the gravity gym opened and Mayan barged in.

"Trunks!" she yelled too excited to form coherent sentences, "You! Come! Quickly! Gohan!"

"What about Gohan?" Trunks said flabbergasted.

"He gone!" Mayan said pointing to the north, "Androids! Not coming back! Kaboom!"

It seemed like it took several seconds for Trunks to make sense of what she was saying, then his eyes grew big as saucers."

"We have to stop him," he said, then he and Mayan stormed out of the gravity gym, leaving a bewildered Jacqueline behind.

It was only then that she noticed that a small ball of energy was flickering between her hands.

"I did it!" she said excited, I did it! I…"

There was no one left to see her triumph. In particular her teacher, Trunks.

"Aw crap!"

x

* * *

x

As Gohan came down in New Cloverfield he found the people there to be already murdered. But unlike the last time when he had encountered the androids this time they were openly waiting for him.

"So you finally decided to show yourself again," Android #17 said, sitting on a large rock.

"I have," Gohan said as he landed not far from the androids.

"He disobeyed us," Android #18 said, "He didn't bring the others along to play."

"I noticed that as well," Android #17 noticed, "It would seem that he did not take our lesson to heart."

"Oh, I took your lesson to heart alright," Gohan said as he briefly raised the stump that used to be his left arm.

"And yet I fail to see the presence of those two kids that you were training," Android #17 said.

"He still doesn't want us to play with them," Android #18 singsonged, then she looked at Gohan and smiled a sickeningly sweet smile, "Maybe we should go to the big house again and pay them a visit. Remember the last time we went there?"

"I remember, you sick twisted bitch," Gohan said defiantly.

"And yet there's only three of us here," Android #17 said as he slowly shook his head dejected, "It would seem that your last object lesson has failed. You remember what we said the last time, right? After we beat you to a pulp we will carry out our threat. San Francisco will burn. And Capsule Corp. with it."

"You're welcome to try," Gohan said, causing Android #17 to snigger.

"You hear that?" he said smiling, "I think he finally lost it. We broke him."

"No more fun," Android #18 said disappointed, "Let's throw him away."

Android #17 looked at Gohan, then Android #18 and then made a courteous gesture from her to Gohan.

"Have fun," he said gracefully.

"There's no fun in killing something that's already broken," Android #18 said, then she glared at Gohan, "Ready, one armed man?"

Gohan began to smirk a very Saiyan smirk.

"I'm going to blow you two up in so many pieces neither of you will ever be pieced back together, even if they tried," Gohan smirked as golden flames of chi began to flare up around him.

"Oh, famous last words of defiance," Android #17 said, pretending to be impressed as he and #18 looked briefly at each other.

Gohan said nothing, instead he closed his eyes and extended his arm and stump, as his chi flames burned with increasing intensity and brightness. Then, as gale force winds began to blow through the ruins of New Cloverfield his flames began to expand until they formed a bright burning ball of chi around Gohan.

"This…., is unexpected," Android #17 said unsure as he took an involuntarily step backwards.

 _Goodbye, sweet Mayan,_ Gohan thought, _goodbye, brave Trunks, and goodbye, good caring Bulma. May you all make the best of my sacrifice._

Then Gohan began to yell as his sphere of chi expanded rapidly.

And then it exploded.

DOOM!

x

* * *

x

A massive detonation lit up the night sky over the American West Coast as a blast of golden light was seen as far North as Alaska, the tip of Siberia and as far south as Central America. It was even monitored by the satellites in a long distance orbit around the Earth that had been put up by the United Earth Governments in exile from what used to be the SGC Alpha Site to monitor what was going on on Earth.

After the sudden light followed the shockwave from the biggest explosion to hit the Earth since the Battle for the SGC, now more then a decade ago. All over the Greater San Francisco Area windows got shattered to pieces by the loud bang and strong winds that hit the city. Earthquake like tremors were also felled for a brief moment as well.

And then came the awkward silence as everybody tried to make sense of what had just happened.

x

* * *

x

Trunks and Mayan were flying at best speed towards New Cloverfield when they saw the massive blast happen dead ahead. Halting in mid-air the two immediately put up strong shields as within seconds they got absolutely hammered by the shockwave.

For what seemed like an eternity they got absolutely battered and they had to pour everything into keeping up their shields.

And then it was over and an eerie calm settled.

"We're too late," Mayan said as she unclenched herself, "He did it, he actually did it!"

Trunks on the other hand seemed less inclined to declare defeat. Yelling the name of his sensei he launched himself forward again at full speed, causing Mayan to give pursuit, with Trunks going so fast that she was unable to follow.

"GOHAN!" Trunks yelled as he arrived at New Cloverfield, now a vast smoking crater.

"GOHAN!" Trunks yelled as he searched frantically for his teacher, "GOHAN!"

He was still yelling when Mayan landed.

"Trunks!" she said, trying to calm him down, but Trunks paid no attention towards her. Using his own chi flames Trunks tried to blast away the smoke, so he could get a better view of the crater.

And then he stopped.

"Gohan!" Trunks said, now saddened as he fell on his knees in front of an object. Then he buried his face in his hands and began to cry.

Mayan came up to him and as she did she saw what the object was.

It was the petrified head of Gohan, one that was rapidly losing all recognizable features as it was crumbling to dust in the wind.

He had done it, she thought, he had actually converted everything that he could muster, his chi, his life essence, his very being, in the most powerful attack ever devised.

Even though she felt the need to console her boyfriend Mayan began to look around for signs of the androids. After all, she had to know if the attack had worked. And she had to know if Gohan's sacrifice had meaning. That it hadn't been in vain.

But she found no sign of the androids.

She was about to give up on her search and go back to console Trunks when her boyfriend looked up, his tear stricken eyes now glowing with cold green fire.

"GOHAN!"

And with a shout, the Earth was a new Super Saiyan richer to take over as its new defender.

Just as Gohan had expected it would.


	30. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter 16**

' **Hail to the Thief'**

x

x

AN: _In a way the android and imperfect cell sagas are now over, let the games begin!_

x

green falcon: In DBZ there were never any female Super Saiyans. There were also of course never any female Saiyans, or half Saiyans, except Gohan's daughter Pan and Vegeta's daughter Bra, who only appeared as an small children at the end. In the non-canon Dragonball GT (the less said about that the better) Pan was shown as a fighter, but she never went Super. Bra barely lifted a finger in that non-show, let alone be able to go Super. So in that sense Gohan's theory of women not being able to go Super Saiyan holds up. On the other hand DBGT was not written by Toriyama, but the animation company, so its about as canon as my left foot. Plus I already had Mayan go Super Saiyan, so it would appear Gohan's theory was just that, a theory.

As for Faith and Buffy being outshined by Xander, this story is about the relationship between Buffy and Belmo, not the Xander show. His self stated mission statement is being the snarky sidekick. He just does that very well.

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 11

x

Standing on an alien planet Trunks couldn't help but admire the irony that not only was it the first time in his life that he was away from Earth, he was also going to die here.

Funny, he had always figured he was going to die back on Earth before the age of twenty. And now he was almost twenty. He had at least gotten that part correct.

He had tried to take on Cell and beat him. He actually thought he could. That optimism seemed so hollow now. Hollow and bitter, the real taste of defeat.

How could he have been so stupid?

Honestly, he had made the most basic mistake he could ever have done in his fighting career. He had forgotten that in the race to dramatically increase his strength you also needed speed.

Speed was vital!

Speed saved your ass when the chips were down.

Speed allowed you to bring your strength to bear and actually hit your opponent.

Without speed all you were hitting was your opponent's shadow.

He should have known when his father, one of the most experienced martial artists in the galaxy, had forgone the extra strength upgrade. He had thought he was so clever, when in fact he should have seen that when something's too good to be true it usually _is_ to good to be true.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

And now he was going to die.

Good! He deserved to die for making such a mistake.

Such a big mistake.

Meanwhile Cell had his open hand aimed at him, ready to finish him off.

"You and Vegeta were such big disappointments," Cell said, actually sounding disappointed.

It wasn't quite true of course. If Father had killed him when he still had the upper hand none of this would have happened.

Of course that didn't matter any more. What is done is done. All that mattered now was facing the consequences of your actions. He could have stopped Vegeta at any point if only he hadn't let his reverence for his father get in the way. He had the power to overpower Father back on Earth but decided not to in the vain hope of making his father see reason.

That was his second mistake. He should have killed Father or humiliated him by overpowering him and then kill Cell when he was still imperfect.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

In the end all a man could do was face the consequences of his actions. And not even the time machine could make right what was broken.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Maybe if he had studied the notes Gohan had used to develop that suicide attack he might have used it against Cell in a last ditch effort. In his ascended form he had more power, hell, even Father had managed to inflict serious damage while have less power.

But both Mother and Mayan had made sure he threw away those notes. That never again one of them would succumb to that level of despair again. Now he wished that he hadn't. He had finally come to understand his former sensei. There was power in despair. Great power.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

"You know, I was really hoping you would give me more entertainment," Cell said pensive.

"Just get it over with," Trunks said disdainful.

Then he looked up and saw several trails of chi coming towards him, at least two of them golden. Then they came down and saw that somehow Mayan had made it to this planet.

No!

Before anyone could say anything Cell spoke up.

"Make one sudden move and Trunks dies," he said.

How the hell did she get here? The Gate was powerless they had said. And yet she was here, so clearly they were either lying or those people were way too clever.

As everybody froze in place Cell turned his attention back to Trunks.

"I have one question," Cell said, his hand still trained at Trunks, "Neither of you is in my league, yet both you and Vegeta managed to increase greatly in strength in just a very short while. How did you do that?"

Trunks didn't know what to say, foremost because he didn't want to give away that Goku was doing the very same thing at this very moment.

"You're not going to answer that one, are you?" Cell said sensing his reticence, "Fine, I'll change the question then. If you had more time, could you improve even further?"

The question was so bizarre it made Trunks gawk.

"I, um, uh," Trunks stammered, "How should I know? I won't know until I try. Why do you even ask?"

Despite it being a crap answer Cell seemed impressed as he began to smirk again.

"Hmm, so it is possible," he said pensive, "Here's my next question then. What is Son Goku up too? Why hasn't he shown up here to stop me?"

That question brought the fight back into Trunks.

"Goku's training to defeat you! You'll meet him soon enough!" Trunks said as he balled his fist and raised it defiantly at Cell, "And once you two meet he'll do what I failed to do!"

Cell's smirk grew even bigger.

"Good answer," he smirked, then he lowered his arm, "All right then, why not have a martial arts tournament."

"A what?" several people said at once.

"Yes, a martial arts tournament," Cell said as he cupped his chin and tapped his nose in glee, "it will be held in ten days. Now I'm doing you all a favor. Ten days for you all to get even stronger. Entertain me!"

"Did we just step into the Twilight Zone?" somebody said behind Cell, but he didn't pay any attention.

"You may not have heard about it but there used to be a martial arts tournament called Tenka'ich Budokai. It was held every three years on one of the Ryukyu islands, south of Okinawa. I'm going to recreate it, but with a slight difference. All of you will only have me to fight. We will fight one and one, and when I win we go to the next one. I don't care how many of you there will be. In fact the more the merrier. So you better bring your army friends along. Who knows, there might be strength in numbers."

"This makes no sense," somebody said behind Cell.

"Shush," Cell said, looking over his shoulder, "By the way, you're all invited as well. Keep an eye on the news as I'll announce where it will be."

Cell looked away and seemed quite pleased with himself.

"This will be a great way to pass the time," he said smug, then wagged his finger at the others, "Be sure to bring plenty of senzu. Otherwise dead will be dead forever."

And then Cell walked away.

"Wait, this is it?" Buffy said, "That's kinda anti-climax."

"Anti-climactic," somebody corrected, but Buffy ignored that, instead she ran after Cell.

"What's the point?" she demanded to know, "What are you up too?"

"Yeah," Trunks joined in, "What do you want?"

"My plans, simple," Cell said without looking back, "I'm going back to Earth and in ten days we're going to resume where we're currently letting go. What I want is to confirm my superiority and spread some good old fashioned fear back home. Plus it will be good practice too."

Then Cell glanced over his shoulder.

"Other then that I have no ultimate goal, nothing material at least. I was created to kill Son Goku, but I see no point in that any more. Maybe the only point now left is to have some fun. And the greatest fun of all is to watch people's faces contort in fear."

Everyone looked at Cell in shock.

"Yeah, that look," Cell sniggered, then he walked away towards the Stargate.

"Wait!" somebody said.

It was Krillin.

"You promised," the little fighter said as he ran after Cell, "When she gave herself up to you, you promised that you would let Earth go. That you wouldn't go back!"

Cell looked at Krillin, then he began to chuckle.

"Do I even need to answer that?" he said derisively. Then he resumed his march toward the Stargate.

Making a short hop Cell landed not far from the Gate controller.

"Let's see, now what did I do again," Cell said as he examined the controller.

Before he could get even started a strange whizzing noise occurred.

Next thing a series of rings came down out of nowhere and several armed men materialized out of nowhere.

They were strange men, almost robot like in both appearance and behavior. As more of them arrived they trained their weapons on Cell. As they did Cell looked at them with a mixture of growing amazement and thinly veiled amusement.

x

* * *

x

"Kull warriors," Teal'c said sucking in air as he recognized these strange newcomers, "soldiers of Anubis."

"He's still around?" Buffy said surprised, "I thought I had killed him?"

"Anubis has proven to be…., hard to kill?" Teal'c said stoically, "The death of his physical body does not entail his own death. Like a specter he merely finds a new body to inhabit."

"He seems a lot like that demon that was after Giles," Buffy said.

"Too bad there's no Dead Boy around," Xander chuckled, "The one time he could be useful. Maybe we should introduce the two of them?"

"Why not send Spike?" Buffy countered.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Xander said shaking his head, "unlike Dead Boy Robo-Spike's actually pretty dangerous in the wrong hands."

"If those are Kull warriors, then why are they here?" one of the soldiers asked.

"I guess Anubis is interested in Cell too," Belmovekk said.

"Who is this Anubis?" Mayan asked puzzled.

"Big powerful Goold Big Bad," Buffy said, "Likes to possess people. Preferably Slayers."

Before anybody could say anything another ring transporter whizzed to life and some more arrivals arrived. Like before they were more of these Kull warriors. Except for one. Who looked like a normal human.

Be it one that looked in a very bad state of bodily deterioration.

"And there he is," Buffy said disdainful, "different body, same lack of personal hygiene."

x

* * *

x

As soon as Anubis arrived he knew that the being at the Cha'pa'ai controls was the one he had sensed. Whose emanations could be sensed all over the galaxy. Using a Stargate he had gated himself to the nearest Ha'tak of his fleet and used it to get here.

From orbit he had seen signs of fighting going on at an immense scale. Of power that dwarfed even the Majin. His ship even had to dodge the massive attack that came from this planet and which packed more then enough punch to obliterate a whole fleet of Ha'taks.

Once the signs of fighting stopped Anubis had deemed it safe enough to order deploying his Kull warriors below. The super warriors were his own creation, troops created using Ancient technology and unlike the increasingly rebellious Jaffa 100% completely loyal to him. They were also needed to counter the increased use of techniques involving advanced martial arts and chi energy attacks that the Tau'ri and some of the renegade Jaffa factions seemed to be using.

As soon as he received the word of the all clear Anubis soon followed suit and joined his forces on the surface, only to become face to face with the being that had drawn him here.

It was huge.

Insectlike.

And yet, also very humanlike.

And as he looked at the creature Anubis realized something.

It was the very same creature that had haunted him in his vision. The one that had driven him for all these years as he tried to unite his fellow Goa'uld to stop that vision from coming to fruition.

And now he looked straight at it!

The Doom of the Goa'uld! The Eater of Worlds!

It should made him shit his pants!

But a lot had changed since he first experienced his great vision. Not the least of which were his setbacks at the hands of Amūn and the Slayer and the Saiyan. At one time he controlled most of the Systemlords, save a few of the big holdouts. Now he was lucky to have a few of the minor ones accept his leaderships.

And then only because many of their Jaffa had deserted them to join the renegades like the Free Jaffa and Sons of Priya.

Despite his best efforts and love for Ancient super weapons Anubis' best schemes just never seemed to get above a certain point. And never towards that ultimate goal, Ra's vacant position of supreme Systemlord.

A Goa'uld that was strong and confident in his position of Systemlord might still have certain principles, like not willing to deal with mere mortals. A Goa'uld who had received untold setbacks and who felt the hot breath of his impending vision of doom approaching might have other views.

At this point in time Anubis, instead of trying to bring his forces to bear to defeat Cell, actually looked at Cell thinking how he might be able to take advantage of this situation.

"And who might you be?" the creature finally asked in a curious yet semi-arrogant tone of voice.

"I am Anubis, Supreme Systemlord of all the Goa'uld," he replied back. The creature looked back at him dumbfounded, like he had never heard of him.

"I can't say it rings a bell," the creature said dismissively, "Would your minions please stand aside. I have things to do."

The Kull warriors didn't move. Nor would they without any orders to do so from Anubis. They were designed well. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about their owner.

"You will hear me out!" Anubis said as he raised his voice, causing the creature to slowly look at him, "I am Anubis, Supreme Overlord of the Goa'uld. I can offer you riches beyond your wildest dreams, the wealth of planets and your disposal, power you can only dream off. And all I require is that you submit to my will."

The creature looked at Anubis like he didn't believe what he was hearing.

"You want _me_ to submit to _you_ so _I_ can be _your_ lapdog?" it said slowly.

"I would not call it like that," Anubis said amiably, "more like you could become my right hand, First Prime to the living and ascended God Anubis."

"Gee," the creature said as he pretended to think, "what a great offer! Let's see, become someone else's lapdog, or….. no deal."

The creature ignored Anubis and went back to fidgeting with the Cha'pa'ai controller.

"I will not be ignored like this," Anubis spoke up, "I am Anubis, Supreme System…."

"Yeah I know," the creature said as he waved his hand dismissively, "You're something big somewhere. Go be it somewhere else. I'm bored now."

"I demand that you….." Anubis yelled at the creature. But this time the creature didn't interrupt him. He just blew his head clean off.

As Anubis' lifeless body keeled over, the Kull warriors opened fire on Cell, who lazily began to pick them off one at a time as their weapons fire bounced off harmlessly against his shield.

"Insects," Cell muttered softly as he finished his work on the Gate controller, then he looked towards the others and raised his voice, "Don't forget, you have ten days."

Then Cell activated the Stargate and stepped through it.

But before he disappeared he launched one last energy attack that flew upwards until it lost momentum, then it came down again and landed right on top of the Stargate.

DOOM!

As everybody with chi ability raised their shields a massive explosion obliterated the Stargate.

x

* * *

x

On the other side Cell stepped out of the Stargate into the SGC and found the place deserted. There were no signs of devastation of the attack that he had left behind. But Cell didn't expect as much considering that both Vegeta and Trunks had come through after him.

As he looked around Cell saw signs that somebody had been working on the Stargate, by the looks of it trying to disable the thing. Also be the looks of it they had beaten a hasty retreat not so very long ago. Probably when he had begun dialing in. As he extended his senses he could even sense a small group of people trying to escape to the surface.

For a moment Cell contemplated going after them. Or blowing this place up. In the end he decided not to. He had bigger fish to fry right now.

He had an arena to build!

x

* * *

x

As the group gathered around the battered remains of the Stargate Krillin looked forlorn.

"I don't get it," he said shaking his head, "If he wants us to fight him in ten days, why does he strand us here?"

"It would appear that he does not intend for us to follow him, master Krillin," Teal'c said, "Not right away that is."

"Krillin's right," Trunks echoed, "This doesn't make any sense."

"He must think we have a means to get away eventually," Buffy said, then she looked at Belmovekk, "Any chance for a lift home using Belmo-Travel?"

"It is hard for me to latch on to something," the Saiyan said shaking his head, "I might if I go to the realm of the Lord of Worlds. But I doubt that he will be glad to see me after what happened the last time."

Meanwhile Mayan hunched down and picked up the helmet of a Kull warrior to examine it. To her surprise she found that there was an actual head inside, fully integrated and fused into the armor. Disgusted and shocked alike she dropped the head, then she got up again.

"Where do these things come from?" she said, "Do they have some sort of ship or something?"

Belmovekk, Buffy and Xander looked at Mayan, then a grin began to grow on their faces.

"The universe provides," Xander said as Belmovekk brought two fingers to his forehead.

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 12

x

Curse those infidel bastards!

And curse those bastards of Al-Qai'da as well!

Less then two weeks ago he was the governor of a province in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Granted, it was a shithole province. But God works in ways not known to men and if it meant he had to bring the rule of God to the most forsaken province of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan then praise to Allah, his will be done.

And he had done good things since coming here. He had put a stop to the warlords fighting each other, great inroads were made into halting the opium trade, those engaged in un-Islamic activities had been punished, schools now only taught the holy Quran to boys and had stopped teaching women, mosques had been rebuild and general order had started to return. He'd figure that with a few years more he could turn Uruzgan province from the absolute shithole province that it was into a more general ass end of the universe province. Still shit, just a better grade of shit.

And then those accursed Arabs launched their stupid Jihad against the infidels, bringing the wrath of the Americans upon them. Idiots! Everybody knew that even though they were infidels, the Americans, like the godless Russians before them, possessed great power. It was one thing to challenge them whilst fighting for your own country, it was a whole different thing to actually go challenge them in their own country.

And now the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was paying the price for the arrogance of the Arabs. Even now the Americans and their Northern Alliance dogs were sweeping through the country. Even in his remote shithole province.

And now he was on the run.

Together with his own personal bodyguard and what remained of his staff the now former Taliban governor of Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, was fleeing through the remote wilderness. He wasn't alone. All over the former territory held by the Taliban, Taliban officials were fleeing as the Americans and Northern Alliance swept through the country.

As it appeared that God had forsaken them all that remained for the faithful was to hide and regroup. Most had already fled into Pakistan but this far west this was not so easy. Still, there were rumors of Taliban commanders regrouping in Helmand province. And that was to just to the south. So that's where they were heading.

That is, until they came upon the green demon.

The next valley was said to be still loyal to the Taliban. A place for them to rest before continuing their journey towards Helmand. But in order to get there they had to leave this one first.

And the green demon just happened to be in their way.

Smack in the middle of the valley, right in their way, a being straight out of hell was busy creating something. Unless they retraced their steps to go around this valley this was the end of the road for them. As they hid amidst the rocks some of the Taliban soldiers began to panic.

"It is Shaitan!" he began to babble, "The Americans are in league with Shaitan and he now does their bidding!"

"Shut up you superstitious fool!" another Taliban soldier said.

"Then what is up there," the scared soldier said, "It's Shaitan! The Fallen One! He's come to take our souls!"

"He does have a point," another Taliban soldier agreed.

"Let's find out," a third Taliban soldier said and pulled forth his binoculars.

"What is it?" the former governor asked, "Is it an American perhaps? I hear their special forces sometimes dress in such greens."

"If it is he is not only wearing a very strange dress, he's also freakishly strong," the Taliban soldier with the binoculars said, "He lifts rocks like he's an army of mules! Oh, I think he has seen us…"

"What's it doing?" the former governor asked worried. The Taliban soldier with the binoculars said nothing. Instead he put away his binoculars, fell onto his knees and began to pray.

"Blessed be Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. And blessed be his holy prophet Muha…."

And then the sun got blotted out by the most intensive light ever and the world turned to white.

x

* * *

x

"We have unscheduled Gate activation," the Gate controller on board the USAF Enterprise, formerly known as the Pride of Amūn, said as half a dozen alarm lights and bells were going off.

Like all Ha'tak's the Enterprise carried its own Stargate. And now that the SGC was offline she was the only lifeline to the Alpha Site and the remaining teams still out there.

"Well, at least it's not Cell," the Enterprise XO said looking over the shoulders of the Gate controller, "is it one of our SG teams?"

"It's SG-24, sir."

"They're still alive?" the Enterprise XO said surprised. After Cell had returned it was assumed that he had killed everyone, including the two teens and SG-24.

"The code checks out, sir," the Gate controller said.

"Well, let's find out what happened then, shall we?"

x

* * *

x

Damn you, Cell!

As he stood on the bridge of the Enterprise, looking out the window into space, Vegeta felt his anger take hold of him.

Curse you! He's just toying with us!

There was the humiliation of being defeated by that thing. And there was the humiliation of having yet another one of those abominable senzu beans shoved down your throat. And then there was the humiliation of learning that that…., that thing had said thank you very much, come back in ten days. And do try to get stronger.

It was enough to drive anyone mad.

But what was really maddening was the humiliation of knowing that he had let it happen. He could have finished Cell and instead let himself be goaded into allowing this thing to become complete.

"A tournament?" the captain of the Enterprise said behind him, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yup," Xander said deadpan, "It wants to stage Wrestlemania Ultimate Smackdown. Winner takes all."

"But who would anyone enter a thing like that?" Krillin said towards Trunks, "Not even you guys stood a chance."

"Well, when Goku comes out, I'll go back in," Trunks said.

"And this time I'm coming with you," Mayan quickly added, raising her finger to shut Trunks up, "And no buts. I'm not leaving you out of my sight this time.

Listening to all that innate babble caused Vegeta to turn around.

"I'll go back in," he said as held up a clenched fist, "There's no need for you, or for her, or even Goku for that matter. All I need is access to that room for one more day and then Cell will regret giving us this extra time."

"Arrogant much again?" Buffy snorted, but Vegeta ignored her and turned to gazing into space again..

"You know, with this many people wanting to go into that room we're going to have to make a waiting list," Xander said, then he looked around the bridge, "Does anyone have a paper and pencil?"

x

* * *

x

"Home sweet home," Krillin said as he stepped inside Kame House.

"Hey, you're back?" Roshi said as he saw Krillin enter his home. Next thing something dressed in an orange gi stomped by and took Krillin in a tight embrace.

"You're back!" Yamcha said as he put his arms around Krillin, "And alive! That's a first! We didn't even have to resort to the Dragonballs for a change."

"Ha ha, not funny," Krillin said annoyed, then he went past Yamcha and sat down in the living room, "I'm bushed."

"The usual?" Roshi asked.

"I could use a beer instead," Krillin sighed. The way he slumped in his chair indicated that Krillin might actually need a whole six pack. Or two.

"Make that a double," Yamcha said as he sat down opposite Krillin. Muttering something that he was a Goddamn renowned martial arts master, not some waiter, Roshi made for the kitchen.

"It's good to see you again, bro," Yamcha said smiling, "I thought I was never going to see you again. They said you were off planet or something."

"I was," Krillin said, "Went there, done that, almost gotten myself killed."

"Ah, just like in the good old days then," Yamcha smiled.

"Depends on what you call good," Krillin shrugged, "I just remember a lot of getting beaten up."

"Yeah, but chicks dig scars, dude," Yamcha grinned.

"Speaking of chicks, weren't you supposed to be in San Francisco?" Krillin asked, causing Yamcha to snigger.

"That was when we thought the Androids might show up there. When they didn't and y'all went off planet I decided that I really love Bulma. That is, with as much body of water between me and her as possible. So I came here instead. And just in time because I was about to leave when Faith brought in this really huge android, a bloody behemoth. Had this big gaping hole on his head."

"Android #16, huh," Krillin said surprised, "I'm surprised that she took him there."

"Yeah, she figured he might come in useful," Yamcha said, "And you know Bulma, any chance to explore a new piece of technology. She ain't rich for nothing as it were."

"Yeah, Bulma will never have to make do without I suppose," Krillin echoed. Then Roshi returned and handed each of the fighters a bottle of beer.

"So, what happened?" he asked as he sat down with his own beer.

Krillin then proceeded to tell what had happened on that alien planet. How Cell had battled his way into the SGC and laid an ambush for them. And how Android #18 had sacrificed herself to save them and how Cell had reneged on his promise to her and returned to Earth.

"He's back here?" Yamcha said surprised, "Then why haven't we heard about it?"

"Let's find out," Roshi said and picked up the television remote. Flicking on a couple of news channels he finally settled on FOX news.

"Aw come on," Yamcha exclaimed, "anything but Faux News."

"Hey, I just happen to like the way they bring the news," Roshi said back, then he drank from his bottle of beer. Meanwhile Krillin leaned over towards Yamcha.

"What he really likes is the weather girl," Krillin whispered conspiratorially.

"Ah," Yamcha smiled as he finally understood.

"She's got a nice set of fun cans," Roshi grinned with a big grin, "And when she points to those high pressure zones, my high pressure starts to rise as well."

Yamcha took one look at Roshi, then he began to chuckle.

"Don't ever change, master," he chortled.

"I have no intentions too," Roshi replied.

No sooner had Roshi spoken when the announcer spoke.

"And now it's time for the weather around the world."

"Oh, just in time," Roshi said excited as he again picked up the remote and added some extra bars to the volume.

"Is that her, master?" Yamcha said as he saw the weather girl, then looked at Roshi, "She's freakin' hot. She can come round and tell me all about the weather in my erogenous zones."

"Back off, I saw her first," Roshi said back, "I call dibs."

"Curse you, master," Yamcha said as he slumped in his seat.

"You guys are incorrigible," Krillin said as he slowly shook his head, "You talk as if she's just a piece of meat."

"She's got meat alright," Roshi said with a big grin, "Sweater meat!"

"See? And that's why you don't have a girlfriend," Yamcha said towards Krillin as he pointed to the television, "You put the pussy on the pedestal. Girls don't want a nice guy who worships them. That's what we in the business call a stage 4 needy guy. And nobody likes a needy guy. That just puts them off. You have to make them want you, not the other way around."

"All I see is one drooling single guy and another old single guy telling me how I should handle women. Somebody, please tell me what's wrong with this pi…..," Krillin said, but then something happened on the news.

As the weather girl tried to tell the weather, noises could be heard off screen.

"Hey, who are you?" a voice said, then there was some muffled noise.

"What are you doing?" another voice said as weather girl looked over her shoulder to see what was happening, then the camera trained on weathergirl began to shake and zoom out, showing more of the blue screen that she was standing in front off, then parts of the studio became visible.

"N-no way!" Krillin exclaimed as weather girl suddenly got shoved aside by something tall, mottled and green, "Cell?"

"Weather girl?" Roshi whimpered softly as Cell took over the screen.

"Is that Cell?" Yamcha said as he got off his chair and hunched in front of the television screen to see every detail, "So that's him."

"Security!" a television technician called as he suddenly looked into the camera.

"Somebody, call the cops," another voice said. Then everybody got pushed aside as Cell walked right up to the camera until all you could see was his smirking face.

"Good morning everyone," Cell said in a surprisingly pleasant voice, "I'm truly sorry to interrupt your regular scheduled programming for a moment. But I'm here to bring you some great news. I know that as most of you go through your boring little lives of peace, quiet and happiness, some of you secretly yearn for a little more excitement in your humdrum days."

The camera view suddenly changed to a different camera, now showing Cell from the side as he stood right in the FOX news studio. Two bodies were lying on the floor, one in a private security uniform.

"Actually it's sort of rude of me to intrude myself like this, so I'll introduce myself. My name is Cell. You may remember me from a few days ago when I played a little game of hide and seek in the Pacific Northwest. I gave a lucky reporter the interview of a lifetime. And then I killed him and added his life force to mine. I've killed a lot of people in those days. As you can see I have now changed a little, well, actually, I've changed a lot. So don't worry, I no longer need to kill people for their life force. You're all now quite safe in that respect."

Cell now looked into the camera again.

"I was also responsible for the recent events in the state of Hawaii, where I blew up most of its islands. I was looking for something. And as you can see I've now found what I was looking for"

x

* * *

x

Inside the SGC the rebuilding had just barely begun when everybody stopped working and switched on the televisions.

"Good God!" General Hammond exclaimed as he saw Cell's grinning face on all networks.

x

* * *

x

"So, what kind of news are you wondering that I have in store for you, people of Earth? Why, how about a martial arts tournament? And not just any kind of tournament, I'm calling them the Cell Games."

"Most of you are probably not familiar with a little known tournament called the Tenka'ichi Budokai. It's a marvelous tournament that used to be held in East Asia and that I intend to revive. Nine days from now, on October 1st, at noon, in a ring that I prepared in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan I shall await your best and brightest."

"Unlike the real Tenka'ichi Budokai you humans will only fight me, one at a time. One fighter loses, the next will take his place. You can have as many on your side as you want. Thus the greater number of competitors you have, the greater your chances of victory will be. Even I might get tired after who knows many rounds. "

x

* * *

x

"Yeah right," Piccolo said as he and Tien watched Cell's broadcast on the Tenka Bowl, "And pigs might fly."

x

* * *

x

"The rules will be mostly the same as the Tenka'ichi Budokai. You lose if you surrender, if one part of your body touches the ground outside the ring. Unlike the Tenka'ichi Budokai you also lose if you die, although I'll try to go easy on you."

"What's the catch you'll be wondering?" Cell said, then his smirk increased, "No catch. Other then in the end, once I've beaten your best and brightest, I will kill every single last one of you on this planet."

Cell then leaned forward into the camera's lens.

"I will come methodically after each and every last one of you. I'll watch all your faces twist in fear and drink its sweet nectar until no one is left alive on the entire planet. And then I'll blow up this planet for added bonus points."

x

* * *

x

At the Capsule Corp. headquarters, Bulma, Trunks, Mayan, Vegeta and Faith were staring at the television in disbelief.

"What!?" Trunks said in shock as flashbacks of his own ruined future flashed before his eyes. Without even thinking Mayan put her hand on his shoulder.

x

* * *

x

"I welcome any and all who think they've got what it takes to defeat me," Cell continued on the FOX news channel, now being aired live across the planet, "I'll leave you now to your regular programming. But before I do I'll give you a little demonstration so you know what you will be up against."

Cell aimed his right hand behind him at the studio wall.

"HAH!" he yelled, then he fired off a blast that had the studio cameras overload through sheer light intensity.

When the cameras recovered they showed a massive hole in the wall of the studio, showing the New York skyline through the hole. But the New York skyline was damaged. Everything in the line of sight of Cell's blast had been leveled, tearing a huge scar through central New York.

Cell looked back into the camera and grinned from ear to ear.

"If you don't want to end like this, you'd better find somebody who can fight me."

Then Cell hopped through the gash he had made and disappeared into the air.

x

* * *

x

"Kill everyone on Earth," Krillin said slowly as he stared at the television.

"We're screwed," Yamcha said as he balled his fist in impotent rage, "Who could fight this thing? Not Vegeta? Not Trunks? Not even Goku….?"

Krillin was to horrified to respond. Meanwhile Roshi looked saddened as he slumped in his chair.

"Weather girl?"

x

* * *

x

"Well, so much for his promise not to kill us," Buffy said as she stood up and switched off the television back in her home in Sunnydale, then she looked at the others, "We've gotta do something."

"Aw crap," Xander moaned as he buried his face in his hands, "Why do I have this nagging feeling that I'm going to have to go back in that horrible chamber?"

x

* * *

x

"This is horrible," Trunks said as he stared defeated at the television. Meanwhile Vegeta had said nothing. Instead he just stood up and pulled off his shirt.

"Going somewhere, Vegeta?" Bulma asked, "Training perhaps?"

"What else?" Vegeta said determined, "I'm going back into that chamber. I couldn't care less how many Earthers die, but this just became personal. I can't sit still until I personally tear that thing's heart out."

"This is all your fault!" Mayan said pointing to Vegeta, "You could have killed that thing when you had the chance. But no, you had to satisfy your inner Saiyan again and let that thing become complete."

"Mayan, now's not the time," Trunks said slowly.

"Oh shut up, daddy worshiper," Mayan scoffed at her boyfriend.

Then, without saying anything Vegeta just walked away.

"Don't you have anything to say, Vegeta?" Mayan called after the Saiyan prince, putting extra venom on his name.

"You know those islands that Cell blew up?" Vegeta said without looking back, "That's where the people that cared used to live."

Then he walked out of the living room.

"Oooh," Mayan said as she sucked in some air, probably because she felt her blood boil.

"You know something, I'll go back too," Trunks said, then he tried to smile at Mayan, "Maybe we can go in…. together?"

He said it so hopeful, but if he thought that it would placate her Trunks was wrong.

"Call me when you're ready," Mayan said as she stomped off.

"Where are you going?" Trunks called after her.

"I'm going back to my father's.," she said still angry, "Even though my sister annoys the shit out of me, I'll be less likely to kill her then I am with your father."

Not sure what to say Trunks looked at his mother.

"Shall I give you a haircut?" Bulma suddenly said. Of all the things she could have said this was the least likely. But it did take the edge off of things. Bulma stepped forward and began to fidget with his shoulder length hair.

"Surely this will get in your eyes."

x

* * *

x

It was getting really crowded now at the Lookout, Mr. Popo thought. There were Goku's friends, and Vegeta, you just had to list him separately, there was the Scooby Gang as they called themselves. And there was even a sizeable contingent of soldiers.

It was the soldiers in particular that worried Mr. Popo. Because never before had the authorities been aware of the existence of the Tenka Bowl. Now that they were who knew what might happen after this was all over? And that was excluding the fact that they were as troublesome as Faith had been and in many times that number.

Especially the blonde haired woman.

"Amazing," she said, "I still can't understand why this who structure doesn't show up on our radar or telescopes. It should leave a shadow across the land miles wide."

"Some advanced cloaking system perhaps?" O'Neill suggested.

"I would think so," Sam replied, "But I checked, other then a television set and a few other things there's not a shred of technology on this platform. Even the television has to be powered by a car battery."

"Magic then?" O'Neill suggested.

"Has any of you talked to the Djinn?" Daniel asked, glancing over his shoulder towards a weary Mr. Popo.

"Little black fellow?" Jack said stoically, "Straight out of Thousand-and-one-nights?"

"Yeah, that one," Daniel quickly glossed over, then he put his hands together in front of him, "Well, he says this is the House of God. And that God has put it here. And we now know that some sort of ascended being actually lived here."

"You think this is Ancient technology?" Sam said, upon which Daniel shook his head.

"I've found nothing indicating Ancients build this place," he said, "quite the contrary. There's a lot of markings in this place but none of them are in Ancient writing. But this Djinn, he told me that there have been a series of Gods. When one gets old and dies somebody else comes and takes his place."

"Ascended beings don't age," Sam said surprised.

"Exactly," Daniel nodded, "Now what if this place is more then just a high rise apartment?"

"Like what?" O'Neill asked.

"How about an ascension machine," Daniel said straightfaced, "one that ascends people to a different kind of ascension? One that's more like Anubis, halfway between full ascension and normal existence?"

From his vantage point Mr. Popo couldn't help but sigh and shake his head. Poor humans. They still didn't get it. Then again, if it made them happy to think of the Tenka Bowl like that, they were welcome to it.

Elsewhere Buffy sat with Riley on the dais leading up to the Room of Spirit and Time. Other soldiers sat around waiting as well. Many of them were of the small group that called itself Belmovekk's Bastards, his original trainees, as they were the ones who had received the most chi training and been at it the longest. Some of them hadn't seen each other in a year and were busy catching up.

While the other Z-fighters were there as well, the only one trying to keep his distance from the Room of Spirit and Time was Xander.

He was sitting on the edge, looking down, trying to see through the clouds when he felt somebody approach.

"Can I ask you something?" Tien's voice asked, upon which Xander turned his head and looked the three eyed fighter in the eyes.

"Sure, just shoot," he said, causing some confusion, but Tien recovered.

"I was wondering, how did you become a Super Saiyan?" Tien asked. It wasn't a curious tone of voice, it was something else instead.

"Uh…," Xander mumbled, not sure what to say," I dunno. It just kind of happened."

"Yeah, but how?" Tien persisted, "You're not a Saiyan. At least you don't feel like one. And I don't think that spell changed you into something that you're not. So how did you do it?"

"I really have no clue," Xander said shaking his head, "It really just happened. One thing I'm certain off, I do have some form of Saiyan ancestry."

"But you feel human," Tien said, "whatever Saiyan ancestry you might have, it's obviously so long ago that it's been diluted to next to nothing. For all we know it happened so long ago all humans have the gene."

"Yeah but that spell did cause something to awaken," Xander countered.

"Well, maybe then all any one needs to duplicate that feat is to awaken what's inside all of us," Tien said. And then it clicked inside Xander.

"You want to become a Super Saiyan too," he said stunned.

"The thought has crossed my mind," Tien nodded, "It's obvious by now that unless you're a Super Saiyan you are basically useless. Part of the cheerleading squad. If I, no, if we want to contribute we have find a way to awaken that which is inside us."

Xander looked at Tien dumbfounded.

"You have no idea how much it hurts," he said, "This kind of power wasn't meant for us."

"No pain, no gain," Tien said calmly, "Whatever it….."

"THE DOOR!" somebody yelled, "THEY'RE COMING OUT!"

"So soon?" Tien said surprised as he looked at the Room of Spirit and Time, "They still have three hours?"

x

* * *

x

As Goku and Gohan emerged from the Room of Spirit and Time they found all of their friends waiting at the entrance. And a lot of others as well.

"Huh?" Goku said surprised, "Why are Trunks and Vegeta still here? And these soldiers?"

Then Goku looked towards the west.

"I sense Cell's chi too. So he's still alive. What's going on here?"

As Goku and Gohan emerged they were fully transformed into Super Saiyan. And yet they didn't give off the feel of being Super Saiyans.

"Holy crap!" Riley muttered as he saw the two Saiyans, "He looks so more in control then he did in Sunnydale."

"Yeah, almost like its daily business for him now," Buffy agreed.

"Tell us what happened," Goku said. Upon which Trunks proceeded to tell Goku what had happened.

"So that's it," Trunks said as he finished up his tale.

"I see," Goku nodded, then he began to grin, "So a tournament, huh? Sounds exciting."

"Exciting?" Piccolo said, then he facepalmed himself, "I should have known who I was dealing with."

Goku then changed into some new clothes as the Saiyan battle armor that Bulma had made was all but falling apart.

"Are you sure you don't want mom to make you a new suit?" Trunks asked.

"That's okay," Goku smiled as he put on his old orange gi, "I like this. And I want to fight as an Earthling."

"Piccolo?" Gohan said as he walked up to the big Namek, "I want some new clothes too. Just like yours."

The proud grin on Piccolo's face went from ear to ear.

"Sure, kid," Piccolo grinned proudly, "I'll make you shiny. My gift to you."

Piccolo held his hand above Gohan's head and in a blink Gohan's battered Saiyan battle armor changed into a the same garb Piccolo was wearing, including the Dynasty wear shoulder pieces and cape, but sans the turban.

"Ha," Gohan smiled as he examined his new outfit, "Thanks Piccolo."

Piccolo then looked over his shoulder at Faith.

"Want a new set of clothes too?"

"I love you like a father. Or mother. Or both," Faith said as she shook her still blonde head, "But not in a million years, Jolly Green."

"Suit yourself," Piccolo said smug.

Then Vegeta stepped forward.

"Well, Kakarot, do you finally have what it takes to beat Cell," he said snide.

"I dunno," Goku shrugged, "I haven't seen his perfect form yet."

Then he brought two fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

"Where's he gone too?" O'Neill asked.

"My guess, to check out Cell?" Piccolo replied.

Within two minutes Goku returned.

"So, now that you've seen the beastie, what do you think?" Buffy asked.

"Frankly, I didn't think it was possible to get that much more powerful," Goku said impressed, "And there's no way of knowing how powerful it really is when it gets down to it. Not until I try at least. But as I am now I don't think I stand a chance."

"Hmm," Vegeta said, not sure if he was either shocked that not even Goku could kill Cell, or relieved that his rival couldn't do the job either.

"It's that powerful?" Trunks said as he briefly looked at Mayan, "Are you sure, Goku?"

"So?" Piccolo said, "Use the room again. There's still 9 days left. Sparky over there has made a list of who goes in in what order."

Piccolo nodded towards Xander.

"First Faith and I go in, then Vegeta has another shot. Belmovekk has put him and Buffy down for two days, then Trunks and Mayan. Tien wants a go as well, as do these soldier boys. But we figure we can squeeze you in for another day."

"Nah," Goku said as a goofy grin began to appear on his face, "Gohan and I will pass. We'll manage in the remaining nine days."

"WHAT!?" a lot of people said surprised.

"You pass? You're not going back in?" Piccolo asked dumbfounded, "You still have a day left."

"I think it's better to rest for now," Goku said dismissively, "It's pretty rough in there even if you don't do anything."

"Ha!" Vegeta snorted out loud, "Even the great Kakarot admits defeat. Can't take a little pain?"

"Perhaps," Goku shrugged, "But at some point stressing your body more is just torture, not training. But you should go ahead. I see plenty of room for improvement in all of you."

"Mmmm," Vegeta growled, "Are you saying that you're stronger then me?"

"I am," Goku said dead serious.

"Bastard!" Vegeta muttered softly.

"Good luck, everybody, we'll all meet at the tournament," Goku said, then he and Gohan took off and disappeared over the edge of the look out. Before anyone could say anything Xander spoke up and looked at some of the soldiers.

"Good news, you five just got bumped into a spot."

"This is bull!" Vegeta yelled at Piccolo, "Why should these insects waste our time? Only a Saiyan will do. I should go in there for the remaining nine days!"

"Always the arrogant fool, aren't you?" Piccolo grinned back, "Nobody can spend more then 48 hours in the Room of Spirit and Time. For the duration of your life."

"And what if I choose to ignore that?" Vegeta huffed indignant.

"Then the exit disappears and you stay in there forever," Mr. Popo spoke up.

"Hmmpf," Vegeta snorted but said nothing.

"I don't get it," Buffy said, "What's with the fulltime Super Saiyan makeover?"

"Yeah," Tien added, "I always thought it took a giant effort to go Super. And yet they looked so relaxed."

"Oh it does take a giant effort," Xander said and shuddered as he remembered the pain he felt.

"They were Super Saiyans alright," Belmovekk said as he cupped his chin, Somehow they trained themselves to remain in that state indefinitely. As if it is normal to them. Quite ingenious actually."

"Oh man, I don't want to even think of what that would be like," Xander winced.

"Then does that mean that they'll undergo another huge transformation in battle?" Trunks asked.

"Don't be an idiot," Mayan said as she smacked him on the back of his head, "Of course not."

"Your girlfriend is right, you fool!" Vegeta said annoyed, "It's got nothing to do with another transformation. They've decided that this is their best combat state. If they get used to it all the time, then they'll minimize the strain on their bodies in battle."

"Oh," Trunks said with an open mouth.

"God, you're lucky that you're pretty," Mayan said shaking her head, "Cause you sure didn't inherit your mother's smarts."

"There has to be more," Vegeta said to himself, "Kakarot must have a strategy. Something that can defeat Cell."

Then Vegeta looked up and saw that Belmovekk had heard him, nodding in agreement.

Then suddenly something hit the Tenka Bowl. Massive waves of chi bombarded the Lookout from below.

"What the hell is this?" Riley shouted, "Are we under attack?"

"It's worse," Vegeta growled as his face contorted in growing anger, it's Kakarot! He's showing off!"

"He must be at Carrin's!" Tien said, but Vegeta didn't hear the rest. All he could hear was the throbbing of his veins. Booming loud in anger that again he, the Prince of all Saiyans, had again been surpassed by his old rival.

Damn you Kakarot, it's always like this, Vegeta thought, always a step ahead of me. Just when I think I'm catching up he widens the lead again. One day I'll make him pay for that. Mark my words, Kakarot, one day you will pay for that!

As the waves of chi stopped blasting the lookout Vegeta yelled in angry frustration.

"Piccolo! Get your leatherclad whore and go into that blasted chamber! People are waiting out here!"

x

* * *

x

Materializing outside 1630 Revello Drive Goku and Gohan arrived in Sunnydale.

"Let's go get mom," Goku said, "We'll get her and go home. We can rest better there. We'll rest for three days, train for three days, then rest for the remaining three days."

"Are you sure, dad?" Gohan asked curious. Ever since they had come out of the Room of Spirit and Time his father had been behaving weird. Confident that he had found a way to beat Cell, and yet at every opportunity he kept saying to everybody that he stood no chance whatsoever to beat Cell. Even when he showed Carrin half of his power and was told that it wasn't enough to beat Cell he didn't seem to be worried at all.

"Is it really enough?" Gohan asked.

"Don't worry about it," Goku said as he nudged Gohan towards the entrance of the home where Chi Chi was supposed to be staying, "C'mon, let's get your mom."

They had barely made it onto the porch when suddenly Belmovekk materialized out of nowhere in front of them.

"We have to talk," the Saiyan said sternly.

"Not now, Belmovekk," Goku said dismissively, "We're here to pick up my wife."

"Yes now," Belmovekk said as he folded his arms across his chest, "No talkie with me, no wifey for you. Not until I know what your game plan is, Goku."

For a moment Goku looked at his fellow Saiyan not sure what to do. Then he sighed.

"Fine," Goku relented, "I'll tell you. But not here."

"I have just the place for it," Belmovekk said as he began to smirk. Then he brought two fingers to his forehead.

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 13

x

Considering that they might not make it past the Cell Games, as the media had now also dubbed it, the various soldiers on the Lookout had decided to set up a large BBQ, inflatable pool and plenty of beverages to take their mind off the long wait.

Mr. Popo didn't mind that part. He didn't even mind the smell of beer that now seemed to be everywhere. As long as they were eating their burned meat and downing it with beer they weren't getting in their way.

What he did mind was the loud obnoxious music they preferred to play over their ghettoblaster. And their ghastly attempts to sing along.

Preferably out of key.

As the others partied Riley kept himself aloof, both from the singing and the heavy drinking. Partly because he knew his singing voice was terrible. And partly because he knew that Buffy would flail him alive if she saw him drunk. Something to do with a bad beer bender she once had back in Sunnydale and Satiya's drinking habits. Probably more of the latter then former if the stories he had heard were true.

It also didn't help that she was currently lying with her head in his lap.

"I'm so glad we're spending these last days together," Buffy sighed contently.

"Yeah, I guess it's not so bad," Riley said as he gently stroked her hair.

"After Vegeta's gone in I'm going in there for two whole days," Buffy said.

"It's just two days," Riley said back.

"Yeah, but it's two whole years for me," Buffy said as she looked up, "Two whole years!"

"We'll get over it," Riley said confidently.

"Yeah, but what if we don't?" Buffy countered, "What if I come out all changed? What if you come out changed? What if we both come out changed? What if…."

Riley put his finger on her lips and made her stop talking.

"What if our relationship works out fine and the world still ends in nine days time?" he said calmly, "If we can't spend a few years apart then we don't have a real relationship. But Cell has to be defeated at all cost or there won't be a relationship, period."

Buffy pulled a sour face.

"Why do you men always feel the need to make sense?" she pouted, then she looked away, "You're no fun."

"Glad to be of service," Riley said as he rolled his eyes. Women!

"Door's opening! Door's opening!" somebody yelled, causing everybody on the Lookout to migrate towards the Room of Spirit and Time.

"Are they coming out?" Buffy said as she got up.

"It's about the right time," Riley said as he checked his watch. Then he got up as well and he and Buffy joined the others.

Coming from the entrance to the Room of Spirit and Time Piccolo and Faith emerged. Piccolo in his usual garb, which looked pristine, so he had probably fashioned himself some new ones. He himself looked anything but pristine though.

Faith looked even worse. She was wearing the battle armor that Bulma had made for her and it was all but falling apart. But it was the look on her face. That vacant stare. What veterans called the thousand miles stare.

"Are you okay, Faith?" Buffy asked concerned.

"I am _neve_ r going back in there," Faith said bland, then she walked right past.

"What the hell happened in there?" Buffy said aghast as she watched Faith shuffle past.

"I'm betting it was a real hoot," Riley said, "And to think you're going in there for two years."

"I hate my life," Buffy moaned.

"Okay, next on the list, Vegeta," Xander yelled.

"Finally," the Saiyan Prince muttered impatiently as he strolled past everybody and entered the Room of Spirit and Time.

"Look at him go," Riley said shaking his head, "So arrogant, going alone in there. By himself."

"Puhlease," Buffy snorted, "He's bringing his ego along. Believe me, there's barely any room for him left."

Meanwhile Faith had made it to the edge of the Lookout and looked upwards, at the sun.

"Want a hamburger?" somebody said. She barely looked around to see it was Tien.

"Sure, why not," she said as she took the hamburger, then she hesitated before biting into it, "You know, there was a time in that fucking room when I dreamt of hamburgers. And pizza. And hotdogs. Any kind of fastfood. Now it feels so…, unreal?"

"Well, I can see that you've obviously improved a lot," Tien said appraising, "a lot actually, did you….. um?"

"No, I can't go Super, if that's what you mean," Faith said bitter, then she threw her hamburger over the edge, "We tried. Believe me, we really tried. Slayers can't go Super. Only Saiyans can. And idiots like Xander."

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 14

x

As everybody parted way for him Vegeta emerged from the Room of Spirit and Time. And as he walked past nobody said a word. Until he walked past Piccolo.

"Impressive," the Namek said, then he said something that caused Vegeta to halt and flinch, "but nowhere near enough."

Saying nothing the Saiyan Prince took off and left the Lookout to return to Capsule Corp.

"Next up, the Big Guy, Buffy and Mayan," Xander called out loud.

"You're going to fit in more then two people?" Tien asked surprised, "I didn't know that was possible.

"Yeah," Xander said, "Me, Belmovekk and Popo did the math and the only upper limit seems to be the amount of food that you can stack inside. And since the good folk of the SGC provided us with a lot of MRE's that take up a lot less space then traditional foods then al we need is some more beds inside and we can actually fit five, maybe six people inside."

"I didn't know that was possible," Piccolo said surprised, "Why didn't Kami know about this?"

"Maybe because he didn't bother to read, as they say, the fucking manual?" Xander said straight faced, "It's designed for two, but it doesn't have too. It's not going to be comfortable though."

"This is great!" Buffy exclaimed ecstatic, "That means Riley can come along with us as well."

Xander didn't immediately respond. Instead he scratched the back of his head and looked sheepishly.

"Xander, what are you hiding," Buffy asked wearily.

"Well," Xander finally said hesitantly, "There's actually going to be three more people with you in there. So I don't think there's room for your, um, boyfriend?"

x

* * *

x

"Mom!?"

As Buffy stepped inside the Room of Spirit and Time she found her mother there as well. As were her sisters.

"Hi Buffy," Joyce waved as she stopped making up the new foldable cot beds that had been brought into the RoSaT.

"Mom?" Buffy again exclaimed as her jaw nearly hit the floor.

"B'fy!" little Dawn yelled excited as she saw her big sister. The little girl came running back into the small house that was the only structure inside the vast white emptiness that was the Room of Spirit and Time.

Coming in at full force the almost two year old ran into her and almost knocked her back.

"Pff," Buffy sighed as she picked the child up, "You're way too easily excitable."

"What's this, family reunion at the OK Corral?" Mayan said as she put her bag down.

"Somebody's idea of a funny," Buffy said snide, "And I think I know just who."

"Look, Buffy," Joyce said as she stopped making up the beds, "I know what you're thinking. And I want you to know this was just as much my idea as it was Belmo's."

"So it _was_ his idea after all!" Buffy said angry, her voice going up an octave, "He's so going to get it!"

"Look, I just thought we should spend these coming days together as a family," Joyce said trying to calm her daughter, "The world might end in a week's time."

"Mom," Buffy protested, "That's a week in the outside world. Not in this little fun dimension. You do realize a day outside means a whole year in here, don't you?"

"Even better," Joyce smiled, then she turned serious again, "Buffy, have you any idea how little I've seen you these past years? You're almost grown up. I may never get the chance again to spent this much time with you."

Buffy wanted to say something, then she rolled her eyes.

"Mom," she sighed and pointed towards the big white empty expanse out there, "There's like ten times normal gravity out there. I've talked to Trunks. That's just for starters. The longer you stay in here, the more it goes up. The air becomes thinner, everything gets worse. It's like living in the gravity gym."

"Yeah about that," Joyce said as she struck a thinking pose, "How's it possible that Max the cat can stand being in that gym? Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"It's a Sunnydale cat, anything's possible," Buffy shrugged.

"Well, in that case," Joyce grinned and walked towards the edge of the dais on which the sole building inside the Room of Spirit and Time was built, "Gee, I wonder what would happen if I were to step off this."

"Mom," Buffy said worried, "Don't! That's 10 G's out there."

"Buffy, don't be such a sour puss," Joyce smiled confidently, then to Buffy's horror she stepped off the dais and onto the white. There she stood like 10 G's of gravity meant nothing to her.

"See, nothing to worry about," Joyce said.

"That's, uh, quite nice, mother," Mayan said as she and Buffy walked up to Joyce, then Mayan stepped off the dais as well and onto the white surface, "And that's still 10 G's. How do you do it?"

"Maybe I, um, practiced a lot?" Joyce smiled conspiratorially. Upon which Buffy and Mayan looked at each other.

"And pigs might fly and be susceptible to Kryptonite," Buffy said shaking her head, "It takes months to get used to 10 G's. And I've spent months inside that stupid gym and I didn't see you at the secret club meeting."

"I have to admit I'm suspicious as well," Mayan agreed, "We only knew this room existed a couple of days ago. Not long enough for you to become accustomed to this kind of gravity."

"Alright, I cheated," Joyce admitted, then she pulled out a silver penchant that hung around her neck, "Willow gave this to me. It's some magic thing that neutralizes gravity."

"Wicked!" Mayan said as she leaned over and studied the penchant.

"I'm _so_ going to have a big talk with Willow when this is over," Buffy muttered under her breath.

Then Belmovekk arrived, coming in flying from deeper inside the Room of Spirit and Time, carrying little Mayan with him.

"This is all your doing!" Buffy hissed angrily at him, "What were you even thinking bringing mom in here? You've been pulling a lot of stupid things lately but this one takes the cake. Did your brain remained damaged after dying? Is this some kind of crazy Saiyan honeymoon thing going on? Or are you just plain stupid?"

"Buffy," Joyce protested but Buffy ignored her mother and yelled some more at Belmovekk.

"Buffy, that's not fair," Joyce said after her daughter had finished ranting, "This was our decision. You can't just blame him."

"Oh, I can, and I just did," Buffy said, "There's no way this was your idea. This has Belmo written all over it."

"Well, you're right," Joyce admitted, "It was his idea. But there's a very good reason for it."

"Oh god, here it comes," Buffy moaned as she closed her eyes, "shoot me now and get it over with."

"This is also a place that breaks people down," Belmovekk explained, then he gestured around, "Look at Xander. He is terrified of this place. Vegeta lost all semblance of logic in here. Trunks did not even notice he was making the most basic error. Goku didn't even last a month his first time around and didn't finish the last time either. Faith is still recovering. This is a very harsh and unforgiving place. The only way we will survive our term inside is by sticking together as a family."

Then Belmovekk reached out towards Joyce and took her in his arms.

"If these are to be our last days I cannot think of a better way to spend them then to be together as a family. And what better reminder of why we fight then our loved ones?"

Buffy shook her head in dejection.

"You know what, you're crazy," she said, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Mayan.

"You know, sis, I know crazy. My own world is as crazy as it gets. And frankly, compared to that, this….., this is quite sane."

x

* * *

x

A-Day +15

x

Standing on his tournament platform Cell stood there motionless, seemingly a statue lost in quiet contemplation. Barely noticing his surroundings.

If he did he would have seen that high in the skies above him a lone Predator drone was circling. Watching his every lack of motion. Transmitting every image.

Normally unmanned Predator drones were being used to gather intelligence over long distances, controlled by operators who could even be on the other side of the planet.

But not this time.

While the operator was sitting in a CIA control room in Langley, the information was transmitted down to a US Army command post just in an adjacent valley. There general John Casey was studying the images intently. Casey was in command of Taskforce Steel Cobra, currently the largest concentration of US forces inside Afghanistan.

"Well, he does seem true to his word," a colonel said, "He really built himself a ring to fight in."

"We'll give him something to fight," General Casey said, "that's for sure."

These past days the Pentagon had given him priority on all supplies and reinforcements coming to Afghanistan to the point that he now had three battalions, including a Marine battalion, surrounding Cell's position. And he now felt ready to assault Cell.

Not only did he have three battalions to attack Cell, he could also call upon enough artillery to completely re-arrange the landscape. And he had strike aircraft coming in from bases in Kyrgyzstan to the north and two US Navy aircraft carriers to the south.

"Sir, all units are standby," a staff officer reported.

"Good lieutenant, let's give this creature a nasty wakeup call, shall we?" the general said, "Prepare to patch me through in five minutes."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant said.

"Sir, I urge you one more time to call off this attack," the colonel, a Marine, said, "The Russians tried to attack Cell conventionally as well and they lost a whole division."

"The Russians are weak, colonel" General Casey said dismissively, "They barely even have an army left. They should have nuked him instead."

"With all due respect, general, maybe so should we," the colonel retorted.

"That is an option," General Casey said. And he wasn't stating just a possibility. He did have the authority to deploy the strongest tactical nuclear weapon in the US arsenal. A short range missile launcher was at standby.

But the White House, the Secretary of Defense and certain influential senators, most prominently Kinsey, were in favor of a demonstration of US conventional military might. Precision weaponry, not brute force, should be the instrument of victory. And now that they had Cell in one place they deemed this the perfect opportunity.

"We go ahead as planned, colonel," Casey said, "Prepare to deploy your troops."

"Sir, yes sir," the colonel said, then he stood to attention, "I wish however to go on record that I do not agree to this plan."

General Casey looked at the Marine colonel, a long standing veteran of many operations going back to the Marine barracks bombings in Beirut in 1982. The man was anything but a coward.

"Objection duly noted," he said, "Can I count on you, colonel?"

"Sir, the Marines lead where the Army follows, I know my duty," the colonel said formal.

"Then let's do this. Return to your command post," Casey said. The colonel saluted and left.

General Casey returned to watching the Predator feed of an immobile Cell.

"We're going to ruin your day today, Cell," he said.

x

* * *

x

"Attention all soldiers, this is General Casey. The moment of reckoning has finally come and we will exact our pound of flesh on Cell for the devastation that he has wrought. Today we will restore honor and justice to the victims of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, New York and Hawaii. Today we will show Cell what we are made off. Soldiers of Taskforce Steel Cobra, do your jobs. And to paraphrase that old television show, let's be extra careful out there."

In his own battalion command post the Marine colonel looked at his staff officers.

"Let's do our job, gentlemen," he said, "And try to bring our boys back alive. Semper Fi!"

"Semper Fi!"

x

* * *

x

As troops suddenly lined the hills and mountains surrounding his valley Cell took notice.

"Well, well, the army's back," Cell said with a growing smirk on his face. In a way it was good that the army had showed up, he was beginning to grow bored, thinking he may have given the Z-fighters too much time to prepare. He could use some gratuitous murder and violence.

But not on his precious new arena though.

Taking off Cell flew several miles to the south to a small hill and landed on top. There he awaited the army's response.

x

* * *

x

"This is a breaking news story," a TV news anchor spoke, "We now go live to CNN News reporter Ian Richardson embedded with US forces in Afghanistan."

"Good evening America, this is Ian Richardson, speaking from the headquarters of Task Force Steel Cobra in an undisclosed location inside Afghanistan."

The reporter could be seen standing not far from a group of armored vehicles, all loaded up with ready to go. Standing next to the reporter was a major.

"I have with me the press liaison officer of Taskforce Steel Cobra, Major Roberts," the reporter said, then he turned towards the major, "Major, you have some breaking news for us, have you not?"

"Yes, Ian," the major replied, "As we speak Taskforce Steel Cobra will commence it's attack on the hostile entity called Cell."

"Who happens to be right on the other side of that ridge," the reporter said pointing, "Is it not, major?"

"That is correct, Ian," the major replied.

"Do you mind if we have a peak, major?" the reporter asked.

"Be our guest," the major said and together they ran towards the nearby ridge, which was lined with troops.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there he is," the reporter said and the camera zoomed in on a solitary figure standing on a hilltop inside the valley below them, "That's Cell."

For a moment nothing happened, then the sound of jets could be heard.

"That's the Air Force coming in for its attack run," the reporter said and the camera looked up into the sky, where several dots could be seen in the sky.

Then all hell broke lose.

x

* * *

x

"Whose brilliant idea was this, general," O'Neill asked as he and many others in the SGC command center watched the attack take place on Cell as it happened, live on the big screens in the SGC C3 room.

"Who do you think?" General Hammond said back, "Your favorite senator."

"Kinsey," O'Neill snorted disdainful, "I should have known. Haven't they learned anything from what happened to us?"

"Kinsey and the Secretary of Defense weren't impressed with our efforts," Hammond said, "They thought that once he was out in the open the full might of the Secretary of Defense's big guns could be brought to bear."

"The Prometheus was out in the open," O'Neill said, "Didn't that register at all in Washington?"

General Hammond shrugged dejected.

"The word is, colonel, that we had our chance and we should fix our Gate and leave strategy to those who have a grasp of it."

x

* * *

x

As wave after wave of fighter bombers struck Cell's position the camera man couldn't help but think he was on the set of Apocalypse Now. All he needed to finish the mental picture was a bunch of helicopters coming in to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries.

Then, all around him and all across the valley the troops began to unload their weapons as well.

And to finish it off a massive artillery barrage began to unload as well.

Wow, the camera man thought excited as he tried to film it to the best of his abilities, US taxpayer dollars in action!

x

* * *

x

"Dear viewers back home, I have never seen such a display of firepower in all my career," the reporter spoke excitedly as Krillin, Yamcha and Master Roshi watched the news, "The sound is deafening, and they're still not letting up. Surely nothing can survive such an onslaught?"

"Wanna bet?" Yamcha said sullen.

x

* * *

x

"This is an all out attack!" the radio inside Goku's car prattled on as Goku, Gohan and Chi Chi listened on in horror, "The blasts are deafening!"

"Get out," Goku said desperately towards the radio, like the people on the other end could hear him, "Please get out!"

x

* * *

x

Standing inside his command post General Casey watched both the live feed from the Predator drone and the reports coming in in real-time. Never before had a commander conducted a battle with so much real-time information at his disposal. The exact position of each individual soldier down to the exact inch, ammunition consumption reports, the amount of details at his disposal was staggering. It truly was the first battle of the 21st century.

The soldiers with him in the command post got more and more excited as the barrage on Cell continued. By now the first wave of fighters had dropped everything they had onto Cell, so it was now his troops that were doing the shooting. But a second wave of fighters was lining up to unload their ordnance. The question now was whether or not he should continue the assault or halt and appraise the situation first. If he committed the second wave now that would undoubtedly please Washington but if would leave him without a means to continue the fight if Cell were to have survived.

Having reached a decision General Casey reached for his communicator.

"This is General Casey to all troops, cease fire, I repeat, cease fire."

x

* * *

x

As the camera man continued his live shoot the guns suddenly fell silent.

"Yeah! Take that you green freak!" a soldier shouted.

"Greeting from Uncle Sam, fucker!" another soldier shouted.

Wow, this must be award winning footage, the camera man thought as an eerie silence settled in. The first live all out assault in history. Usually he was only allowed to shoot heavily censored glimpses of a battle.

Then the strangest thing happened. Even though everybody was convinced that nothing could have survived this onslaught, they all still waited with bated breath for the dust to settle.

x

* * *

x

"Get out," Goku pleaded into his car stereo, "For Kami's sake, get out while you still can!"

x

* * *

x

In the SGC control room everybody had a pretty good idea what to expect next. And still they all waited with bated breath for a miracle to occur.

x

* * *

x

In the Marine battalion command post the Marine colonel was also waiting with bated breath when a signals officer looked around.

"Sir, a sniper team of 2nd company reports a sighting," he said, then his face twisted in shock, "It's Cell. He's alive."

The colonel wasted no time and grabbed his headset.

"All units, this is the colonel, fall back! I repeat, fall back!"

x

* * *

x

"It cannot be…." the reporter said horrified, "Nothing could have survived this…."

x

* * *

x

Pandemonium was breaking out in General Casey's command post, with the general staring in disbelief at the Predator drone feed, showing an unharmed Cell.

"What are you?" he stammered horrified.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Casey's second in command asked, but the general didn't reply.

One of the signals officers spoke up.

"Sir, the Marines are retreating."

"Sir, what are your orders," Casey's second in command again asked to no avail.

"This cannot be," Casey muttered to himself as he continued to stare at the images of Cell.

Seeing that he wasn't getting a response out of the general, the second in command picked up a headset.

"All units, this is Command, fall back, I repeat, fall back! The attack has failed. Fall back!"

Then he looked at the forward air controller who was in command of the 2nd wave of aircraft.

"Tell the air force to cover our retreat!"

x

* * *

x

"What's going?" reporter Ian Richardson asked as all around him troops began to abandon their position.

"We have to go, now!" Major Roberts said, then he turned to the camera, "Turn that off, switch that thing off now!"

But as the major ran away to coordinate the retreat the camera feed was not turned off. Instead the camera man returned to his focus to Cell, who was now slowly rising into the air.

x

* * *

x

Seeing the troops below him run for safety Cell slowly shook his head in disapproval.

"The foolish should always be punished," Cell said frowning, then he extended his arm and gathered energy in his open hand.

x

* * *

x

The lead aircraft of the second wave, F/A-18's from one the carriers in the Arabian Sea were about to unload their ordnance when to their horror they saw Cell lance out and unleash a wash of energy that cleansed everything that was on top of the mountains and hills ringing Cell's valley.

"Bastard!" one of the pilots spoke over the radio.

"Let's get him," another one said.

But before any of them could react balls of energy came towards them.

"BANK AWAY! BANK AWAY! BANK A…." the strike leader called, then he, like all the others, died in fiery balls of fire.

x

* * *

x

"My fellow Americans. As we were all to see on television our forces in Afghanistan suffered a massive defeat at the hands of Cell. Our thoughts and prayers go out tonight to the families and loved ones of the fallen."

"Fifteen minutes ago the Secretary of Defense handed in his letter of resignation and I accepted. I have ordered a halt to all offensive operations against Cell. This does not mean however that we are at the mercy of this monstrosity. We still have…."

As he switched off the television O'Neill turned to General Hammond.

"Well, at least that's good riddance to that asshole," the colonel said, "We're now back in charge of running things against Cell."

"But at what cost, Jack, at what cost?" General Hammond said as he leaned back in the seat in his office, "4028 dead, 37 aircraft, only 387 survivors."

"I'm surprised the president hasn't nuked Afghanistan flat yet," Jack said as he leaned against Hammond's desk.

"We managed to get through to him that a being that can blow up the planet probably wouldn't be hurt much even if we did unload the entire nuclear arsenal on top of him," Hammond sighed, "Besides, the Prometheus already used nuclear weapons against him and he was still imperfect back then."

"That's true," Jack nodded, "So that only leaves the Saiyan option then?"

"Unless you think Carter blowing up our sun is a good option?"

x

* * *

x

The news that Cell had destroyed Task Force Steel Cobra had hit the soldiers hard on the Lookout. All the more so because it could be watched right on the only television that was on the lookout. So as they took to some heavy drinking Riley wandered off to join the Z-fighters instead.

He had been doing that a lot lately and truth be told he had learned a lot from them as well, as each was a very accomplished fighter with years of experience. So he was with Piccolo, Xander, Tien and Trunks, getting tips and pointers from each one of them when suddenly Goku flashed into existence out of nowhere, all dressed in a very un-Goku like civilian garb, yet still in his Super Saiyan state.

"Goku," the fighters greeted him.

"Hey guys," Goku returned the greetings, then he looked at Piccolo, "Did you go into the Room of Spirit and Time?"

"I did," Piccolo answered curtly.

"Wow, I can tell," Goku nodded, "You've really improved."

Piccolo's eyes narrowed.

"Don't beat about the bush," he growled, "Just say it. Nowhere near enough to even put a dent into Cell."

"Well, duh," Goku stated matter of fact.

"I suppose I walked right into that," Piccolo said, "What brings you here?"

"Those people that died," Goku said, "those soldiers. Is it possible for you and Kami-Sama to split into two separate people again?"

"What?!" Piccolo exclaimed, not believing what he was hearing.

"Well, ever since you joined the Dragonballs are no more," Goku explained, "We have to get them back. And return as many people as is possible back to life. And I bet we'll need them as well."

As soon as Goku mentioned the Dragonballs Riley took notice. He remembered those as Belmovekk had used them to bring back some of the fallen from the Battle of Sunnydale back to life. They were gone? When did that happen?

"I see," Piccolo said as he finally understood where Goku was aiming for, "Unfortunately it's not possible. Once merged we can no longer separate again. That's why I hesitate for so long to do so."

"I feared as much," Goku sighed, then his face brightened up again, "Gohan told me that when the Namekians were here they used their own Dragonballs to go to another planet. Maybe I should go look for them. Maybe one of them would be willing to come back to Earth and live here. He could become a God like Kami was and then the Dragonballs would be restored."

"Uh!?" Riley exclaimed not believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah, I'll go look for them right now," Goku said excited.

"Yes!" Mr. Popo said excited too, "Popo would be so happy to have a new Kami again!"

"Could anyone explain to me what's going on?" Riley asked but Xander gave him the not now signal.

"They could be anywhere though," Piccolo said, "Not even in this galaxy."

"I can teleport, remember," Goku smiled, "I'll just look for chi similar to you."

"You can do that?" Piccolo said incredulously.

"Sure, 2000 miles, 2000 light-years, what's the difference," Goku shrugged, causing Piccolo to make noises like he was choking, followed by the slap of a facepalm.

Goku brought two fingers to his forehead and concentrated for a while.

"Too much interference," he finally said, "I think I'm going to go to Kaio Sama's. It's much easier from there."

And then he disappeared, leaving everybody behind flabbergasted.

Then Riley spoke up.

"Can somebody _please_ explain what the hell is going on?"

x

* * *

x

Sitting next to the dinner table together with Yamcha in Kame House Krillin pondered the strange turns of fate that had led him as of late.

"Anyone wants some more coffee?" Roshi asked as he got up.

"No thanks, just another beer," Yamcha said without taking his eyes from the television.

"It's almost bedtime," Krillin said surprised as he looked after Roshi entering the kitchen, "Aren't you going train us tomorrow morning?"

"You guys can train yourselves without me," Roshi shrugged indifferent, "None of you has needed me in a long time."

"That's not true!" Krillin protested, "I need you …."

Roshi didn't hear him as he had disappeared into the kitchen. Krillin then looked at Yamcha who looked back shaking his head.

"I need him," Krillin said softly.

"Do you?" Yamcha said with thinly veiled amusement, "For what?"

"Well, I, uh, there's, um," Krillin stammered as Yamcha's smile grew bigger, "He let's me stay."

"Lucky you," Yamcha said pretending to be impressed, "What else?"

"Well, uh," Krillin said as he thought things over, but other then some sense of loyalty to his old teacher he could think of nothing why he still needed Roshi.

"Krillin, buddy," Yamcha smiled as he leaned over, "I like Roshi just as much as the rest of us. But he's not exactly relevant no more to the situation, now is he?"

Before Krillin could respond Roshi returned from the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a beer which he gave to Yamcha.

"Thanks," Yamcha said as he took the bottle of beer, "Master Roshi, are you still relevant?"

"Me? I'm useless as fuck," Roshi said matter of fact as he sat down, then he picked up the TV remote and changed the channel.

"See?" Yamcha said, then he took a swig from his bottle.

"How can you say something like that?" Krillin said but Yamcha just shrugged.

"Maybe because I don't exactly feel relevant as well," he said, then he held up his bottle towards Roshi, "To us irrelevant old farts!"

"To us," Roshi said and tipped Yamcha's bottle with his coffee mug.

"We can still make a distance," Krillin said, to which Yamcha began to snigger.

"Now who's making a fool of himself," he said, "I take it you're going into the Room of Spirit and Time then?"

"I might," Krillin said, sounding a little less adamant then before.

"Well, if you do, good for you then, cause I sure ain't," Yamcha shrugged, "If we manage to survive this I'm going to do what I should have done after the Battle of Sunnydale."

"And that is?" Krillin asked.

"Take my cue from the master here," Yamcha said as he again tipped Roshi's coffee mug, "I'm going to get me my own place to stay with so much porn I'll be old and impotent before I'm even halfway through my collection."

"Hehehehe!" Roshi laughed lecherously, then he stopped laughing and turned serious, "Be sure to get this internet thing though. I hear there's tons of porn on the internet!"

"Oh, I will do," Yamcha grinned, then he took another swig.

"Perverts!" Krillin muttered as he slowly shook his head.

Meanwhile on the television the commercials had ended and the Tonight Show resumed. As the Tonight Show band finished playing the camera zoomed in on the show's host, Jay Leno.

"Welcome back, everybody," Jay said as he looked into the camera, "It's now time for our surprise guest. Wow, Kevin, are you as excited as I am?"

Next thing Kevin Eubanks, leader of the Tonight Show Band could be seen.

"I am, Jay," the guitarist said, pretending to be excited.

"How about some excitement music then?" Jay Leno smiled at his band leader.

"Sure thing, Jay," the guitarist smiled back, "What do you want to hear?"

"I don't know," Jay Leno said as he looked into the camera and winked, "How about a little….. action movie music?"

"Like what?" Kevin Eubanks asked.

"You know," Jay said as he pocketed his hands.

"Like this?" Kevin said, then he signaled the drummer, who ticked off a beat, then the band did a rendition of the Indiana Jones theme.

"Close," Jay said after he had gestured the band to stop, "but I had something else in mind."

"Then what?" Kevin Eubanks asked.

"How about something like this?" Jay said and proceeded to hum something so terribly off key that it was impossible to make anything off it."

"This is what television has come too?" Yamcha said incredulously as he pointed towards the television.

"Yeah, we know, the end of Western civilization," Roshi said dismissively, "Now shut up! I like this."

Meanwhile the band tried another song, which again was not what Jay had in mind.

"No, you got it all wrong," Jay said, then he pretended to talk with a thick German accent, "Hasta luego, baby."

"Ah, that one," Kevin said, then the band set in the famous theme to the action movie Fight Hard. As the band played Jay Leno turned to the camera again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please be so kind to welcome to the studio, our surprise guest of the evening, and the star of such smash hit movies as Fight Hard, SEAL, Jacky, Rambone, the Assassinator, Rough Deal, and Kindergarten Kommando, the Devil's Rock himself, Bruce Schnitzengruber!"

As the audience went wild a long tall man, muscles bulging underneath his three piece suit, entered the studio.

"I love Bruce," Yamcha said as he recognized Jay's guest, "He's got the best one liners of all action heroes."

"He sucks," Krillin said bored, "He couldn't fight his way through a wet paper towel. Bruce Lee would run rings around this guy."

"Don't say that," Yamcha said annoyed, "He does all of his own stunts. How many actors can say that? And this guy was a very good boxer. And a great wrestler. Still is, remember? Three times undefeated champion as the Devil's Rock!"

"Oh," Krillin said as he rolled his eyes, "Let's never forget about the wrestling. Now I'm really scared."

"Shut up, you two," Roshi suddenly said, "I'm watching this."

"Welcome to the show, Bruce," Jay said after the action movie star had sat down, "Thanks for being on the show."

"I'm more then happy to be here, Jay," Bruce said with a heavy German accent. The action movie star and Jay then proceeded to talk a little about this and that.

"So what brings you to our little neighborhood, Bruce," Jay eventually asked, "Imagine my surprise when our producers told me you wanted to be on tonight's show."

"That's true, Jay, I did want to be on your show tonight," Bruce said, upon which Jay leaned forward and grinned.

"So are you going to take the opportunity and declare yourself in the running for the governor's race," Jay asked.

"The thought has crossed my mind from time to time," Bruce said straight faced, then he shook his head, "But that's not why I'm here."

"You're not?" Jay said, pretending to be shocked, "Oh no, what on Earth could it be?"

"Well, I am going to declare something tonight, that's for sure," Bruce said, then he looked at Jay, "Can I?"

Jay Leno gestured to one of the cameras.

"Be my guest."

"Thanks, Jay," Bruce said, then he looked straight into the camera that zoomed right in on his face, "People of America, no, people of the world. These past days have been very traumatic for us. We have been suicide bombed, seen strange creatures live on television, the Pacific North-West has been devastated, most of the state of Hawaii is now gone, the attack on Fox News."

"No great loss there," Yamcha said.

"Sssshh," Roshi responded.

"War has been declared on us," Bruce said on television, "And I for one have had it. Don't you think so too?"

"YEAH!" the audience shouted back as Bruce got up and walked towards the audience.

"It's time for this nonsense to stop," Bruce continued, holding up both hands as he also played to the studio audience, "For the madness to end. This Cell thinks that he's such hot stuff, challenging the might of America, no, of the world. Sitting there in his little arena, waiting for his game to start."

As the TV audience roared its approval, Yamcha, Krillin and Roshi looked at each other.

"Don't tell me….," Krillin said horrified, then he looked at the television, "Oh no…., you idiot, please don't…."

"I, Bruce Schnitzengruber, hereby declare myself as a participant in the Cell Games. I will go to Afghanistan and kick Cell's ass so hard, his tail will come out of his filthy mouth instead!"

"Oh god!" Yamcha said as he facepalmed himself, "What is it with action movie stars that they actually think that they actually can fight!"

"You tell me," Krillin said and pointed towards the television, "You actually thought he was good."

"His movies are good," Yamcha said, still facepalming himself, "Doesn't mean he's actually good."

"You praised him for his wrestling skills," Krillin said, "That's completely fake!"

"Doesn't mean wrestlers aren't good athletes," Yamcha countered, then he waved dismissively at Krillin, "Ah, who cares, he's going to die."

"And horribly," Krillin said shaking his head in disbelief, "Look at them. They're lapping it up like he's the Second Coming."

"Well, people need heroes," Roshi shrugged indifferent, "And in the absence of real ones they'll turn to fake ones."

Meanwhile on television Bruce had sat down in front of Jay's desk again.

"Bruce, are you nuts?" Jay said incredulously, "Didn't you see what happened to the Army on TV? FOX News? He _butchered_ them!"

"Pff, come on, Jay," Bruce said as he waved his hand dismissively, "It's all trickery. Smoke and mirrors. I've been in the movie industry long enough to recognize special effects when I see them. Haven't you noticed that each time Cell gets exposure in the media it happens on his terms? He's totally prepared the place, planted explosives and the like. And he suckered in the Army. But not this Munich boy! Cell thinks he is so smart. But he made a big mistake."

"Which is?" Jay asked.

"He's going to let people fight him in hand to hand combat. And in that he's not so good."

"Who died and made you the expert!" Krillin yelled angrily at the television.

"So I'm going over there and show him a piece of the Devil's Rock!" Bruce continued.

"But Bruce, you're in your forties," Jay countered, "Aren't you afraid that you might just be a little bit too old?"

"Too old?" Bruce said as he stood up, then he tore of his jacket and shirt, to reveal a bodily physique that would have most younger men cry in envy. Flexing his arm muscles Bruce began to strike several poses.

"Guy's in disgusting good shape for a guy his age," Yamcha said impressed.

"He's going to get himself killed," Krillin sighed.

"Don't be such a sour puss," Yamcha said, "What's the worst that can happen? He dies. So what? Thanks to Goku we'll soon have a new set of Dragonballs. We'll just revive him afterwards."

"I suppose you're right," Krillin said.

As Bruce struck some more poses on television Jay stood up from behind his desk and gestured towards the posing actor.

"Bruce Schnitzengruber, ladies and gentlemen!"

x

* * *

x

Riley's head was spinning out of control as his mind tried to comprehend what the others had just told him. Also the theological aspects alone were enough for him to run towards the edge and let himself fall to death and be done with it.

They had been told this place was the celestial home of some guy called Kami Sama, who kept an eye on Earth from up here and could do all sorts of interesting magic stuff. He knew that the SG-1 guys who had been here on the first day had gotten worked up over something and now he knew.

But as it turned out Kami Sama was actually a God.

Not one of the Biblical kind. Neither like the Goa'uld who liked to call themselves Gods but weren't. No, more of the kind you read about in ancient myths and legends. A benevolent being keeping an eye on things and occasionally performing small miracles. And apparently anyone could take the now vacant position as Goku was gone to get a new one.

Riley was not a particularly religious person, even though his Midwest upbringing did include lots of religious upbringing. But even he knew that there a lot of people who wouldn't take kindly to knowing that some kind of Guardian Earth God even existed. Especially in the current administration.

"So are you coming to grips with it?" Xander asked as he joined Riley, who had taken to secluding himself after being told the truth.

"What's there to get?" Riley shrugged, "First you guys tear up the world as I know it with vampires, crazy mayors and killer robots, now I learn that even God doesn't fit into the picture any more."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better I don't consider the old Kami and the new one we're going to get as Gods," Xander said, "I just like to think of them as some benevolent guardian spirit that you can talk too."

"I'm sure many Christians won't feel offended over that at all," Riley bit back sarcastically, then he pointed towards where the other soldiers were, "You do realize some of them are very religious, right?"

"Ah, the old no atheists in foxholes effect," Xander said, then he looked aside, "uh oh, Goku's back."

Xander and Riley rejoined the other Z-fighters and saw that even some of the soldiers had joined to see what the commotion was all about.

Goku had returned with a small Namekian child.

"Wait here," Goku said, then he disappeared again.

"Piccolo, whose this?" Xander asked.

"It's Dende," Piccolo replied, "Apparently he's going to be…."

"About that," Xander interjected before Piccolo could finish his sentence, then he started to whisper.

x

* * *

x

Goku soon returned with his own son and Krillin, who both seemed ecstatic to meet this Dende kid, who seemed equally excited to meet them again. As the three embraced each other Piccolo grabbed Goku by the shoulder and whispered something in his ear.

"Why?" Goku said back puzzled, causing Piccolo to roll his eyes briefly before whispering some more into Goku's ear.

"Well, if you think it's a good idea," Goku finally said. Then he smiled and watched his son and his best friend renew their friendship with Dende.

Then Trunks approached Goku.

"Goku, can I ask you something?" Trunks asked, "Even with this you've been so calm. Is it because you've discovered Cell's weakness?"

"Geez," Goku said surprised, "Does it even have a weakness?"

"Dende," Piccolo asked, "Are you certain that you can make new Dragonballs?"

"He'll be fine," Goku said confidently, "The guy on Namek swears he's great."

"Yes," Dende said calmly, "I'm sure I can make new Dragonballs in 100 days."

"No," Goku said as he shook his head, "That won't do, that's too long."

"Give the kid a break, Goku," Xander said, "I'm impressed that he even make new ones at all."

"Yeah but it's six days until the Cell Games start," Goku said, "We need them by then."

"Well, if I use the old ones I could do it a lot sooner," Dende said.

"That's perfect," Krillin said impressed, "Can we have three wishes instead of one as well?"

"Uh huh," Dende nodded.

"Sweet!" Krillin grinned.

"But will we be able to bring back more then one person per wish?" Piccolo asked, "Can we say: Bring back everyone killed by Cell?"

Dende thought about that long and hard.

"Well," he said tentatively, "It would be possible if I make them that way. But that would mean one less wish. It's either that or wait for new ones. Then I can make them however I like them."

"That's all?" Gohan said surprised.

"Excellent," Piccolo said pleased, "Two wishes is better then nothing. Let's do it that way."

"Okay," Dende said looking around at everyone's face, "Do you have the model of the original dragon?"

"Mr. Popo, bring it here," Piccolo said towards the Djinn.

"Yes," the Djinn said and vanished into the Palace like structure that dominated the Lookout. He then returned with a large glass bell-jar with inside a miniature dragon, which looked remarkable much like the dragon that Riley had seen after the Battle of Sunnydale.

"Mr. Popo made this," the Djinn said proudly as he handed the bell-jar to Dende.

"That's an…. interesting dragon," Dende said as he studied the Earth dragon, having never seen any other dragon other then Porunga, the Namekian dragon. Then he sat the bell-jar down and began to study it.

"What's going on," Jamison asked Riley, "Who's this kid and what's this talk of new Dragonballs?"

Riley looked at Jamison, a man whom he considered a good friend, and like him one of Belmovekk's Bastards. But also a devout catholic.

"He's the new sorcerer," Riley said, "when the old one who lived here united with Piccolo the Dragonballs became inert. He's going to revitalize them. They're going to try to bring back as many as is possible of those who were killed by Cell."

"Ah," Jamison nodded as he understood, then he again looked at Riley, "Are you sure that kid can do that?"

"That kid can beat all of us," Riley said nodding towards Gohan, "why shouldn't this one be able to restore the Dragonballs? Maybe it's dead easy?"

It took Dende fifteen minutes to study the original dragon and mumble various incantations. Then, as he held his hands above the bell jar, the dragon inside began to glow until it shone with a bright light. Then that bright light shot forth from the dragon and launched itself into the night sky until it was high above the Lookout. There it divided into seven smaller lights and each raced into opposite ends of the Earth.

"There, it is done," Dende said.

"Told you he could do it," Riley said towards Jamison.

"That's it?" Goku said impressed, then his smile returned, "All right! I'll go visit Bulma and borrow her old Dragonball radar and gather them all."

Then Goku turned to Gohan.

"Son, why don't you stay here and have fun with Dende."

"But dad," Gohan protested, "What about our training?"

"Ah, it's okay," Goku waved dismissively, "You have fun instead. See ya!"

Then Goku vanished.

"Why is he so damned cheerful?" Trunks said bewildered, then he looked at Gohan, "Gohan, do you know what he's up too? He's already said that Cell's stronger then he is and has no weaknesses."

"He won't tell me either," Gohan said equally bewildered, "He just tells me to have fun and look forward to it."

"Look forward," Trunks said, not sure what to make of it.

"But if he wants you to look forward to it he must have a plan," Krillin asked.

"Or perhaps he's just being fatalistic," Piccolo said.

"I don't know," Gohan said, but then he pointed towards the Room of Spirit and Time, "But he did tell Belmovekk though."

"Of course," Piccolo said as he facepalmed himself, "Why am I not surprised?"


	31. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter 17**

' **Subterranean Homesick Alien'**

x

x

AN: _The usual stuff. Bla bla, started out trying to write something short, bla bla, took on its own life, bla bla, before I know it I was a gazillion pages further, bla bla, kittens for the Blood God! Stuff like this makes writing fun, ending up somewhere else then where you intended, but it makes writing these author's notes hard._

x

* * *

x

A-Day+16

x

As the doors of the Room of Spirit and Time opened six people came out. Carrying little Dawn in one arm and little Mayan sitting on his shoulders Belmovekk was the first to come out of that room with a smile on his face.

"Good god," Tien exclaimed in disgust as he reached out with his senses, "Even those kids are now stronger then me."

"Had enough?" Piccolo asked with a sly grin.

"I am doing quite alright, actually," Belmovekk smiled in a very Gokuish way, then he looked up towards little Mayan, "Say hello to Piccolo, Mayan."

The now almost three year old said nothing and looked shy and away.

"She is shy," Belmovekk smiled, "She has not seen anyone else except for us this past year. Dawn seems interested however."

To say that little Dawn was interested was an understatement. She studied Piccolo intently, then she looked at her father and pointed to Piccolo.

"Pic'lo," she said.

"Yes, that's Piccolo," Belmovekk smiled at his child, then he extended his arm with her towards Piccolo, "You wanna play with uncle Piccolo?"

The child nodded excitedly.

"Why does everybody keep pawning off their offspring to me?" Piccolo groaned.

"I guess you just have that kind of a face, Daddy Daycare" Xander said as he picked up his duffel bag and sighed, "Alright, let's get this over with."

Then Xander walked up to adult Mayan and tagged her on the shoulder.

"Tag, you're no longer it," Xander said without much enthusiasm, "Have fun on the outside world."

"Oh, I will, Mayan said with a big grin as she waved towards Trunks and ran towards him to end in a loving embrace. Elsewhere Buffy was doing the same with Riley.

"Young lady, twenty minutes," Belmovekk called after her, "Then we go back in."

"That's plenty in time for what I have in mind," Buffy said as she looked wildly at Riley.

"That is more information then I cared to know for," Belmovekk said as he rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Oh, and Major Finn.…"

"Yes, Satiya," Riley replied.

"If I were to become a grandfather inside the Room of Spirit and Time I shall come out and thank you in person. It shall also be the last time you will ever be able to provide me or anyone else with grandchildren. Or any other kind of children for that matter."

"Oh, you got served," one of the soldiers grinned towards Riley.

"That's okay, Satiya," Riley said as he patted one of his chest pockets, "The US military makes sure its soldiers are well protected for _all_ kinds of contingencies."

"Again, more information then I care to know for," Belmovekk groaned, then he turned to Piccolo again, "So, what has happened?"

"I'm more interested in what happened between you and Goku," Piccolo said, "Gohan told me that the both of you had a chat. That you know what he's up too."

"I could tell you," Belmovekk said with a growing grin, "but, um…"

"What? You'd have to kill me?" Piccolo said incredulously.

"No," Belmovekk said deadpan, "It would ruin the surprise."

x

* * *

x

It was always a challenge to read a new officer in charge, General Hammond thought, it was even more of a challenge to read the new Secretary of Defense in the midst of the biggest crisis the world has ever seen.

Upon his entry in the Pentagon the new SecDef had convened a meeting of all department heads who could even possibly contribute a solution to the Cell crisis. Right now the CIA director was giving an intelligence briefing.

"…aside from the widespread rioting in South American major cities all hell is breaking loose in Africa. Former rebels in at least half a dozen West-African countries have taken up arms again in countries like Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda the ranks of the Lord's Resistance Army are being swelled as people flock to their banner thinking that the end has come and that sooner is the better. They're now cutting a swath of rape and destruction in those countries. There are reports of similar movements developing in other countries as well. To prevent it from spreading there as well the South-Africans have now closed their borders and shoot anyone trying to come into the country."

"Ever since Bin Laden has declared that Cell is Al-Qai'da's angel of wrath, as he was a creation of Gero, who was their scientist, things are coming to a boiling head in many Middle Eastern countries. In the Occupied Territories Hamas is organizing mass public prayers for Cell to come and destroy the state of Israel. In Egypt riots continue after last Friday's prayers hailed Cell as the agent of Allah. The government has fled to Alexandria as Cairo is still in the hand of the rioters. Similar scenes are taking place in Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen and Saudi-Arabia. In Saudi-Arabia the situation is still unclear as in regards to the storming of our embassy. King Abdullah continues to promise to send troops there but so far he has been unable to spare any."

"The situation in Pakistan is still unclear after yesterday's popular revolt against General Musharaf, with the Indians now threatening war in case Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falls into extremists hand. The Chinese are similarly clamping down their Muslim provinces. But rioting also continues in the major cities like it does in most other countries."

"So the world's a mess," the new SecDef said, "What else is new. And domestically?"

"Still some rioting," the FBI director said, "but it's mostly contained to deprived inner cities. The National Guard's mobilization so far has managed to contain it."

"I must add though that we fully expect up to half of the National Guard and maybe up to a third of the active military to desert come the day of the Cell Games," a general interjected, "When the end comes these people want to spend their last moments with their loved ones."

"We expect the same with the various police force," the FBI director continued, "We also expect that the same will apply to the various rioters. We do however have one point of worry though."

"And that is?" the new SecDef asked.

"There has been a marked increase in church attendance of various evangelical churches and group," the FBI director said, "Most is probably very harmless, people seeking and giving comfort in these troublesome times."

"So what's the problem?" the SecDef asked.

"Many of those churches and groups fully expect to be taken bodily into heaven before the Cell Games begin," the FBI director continued, "The so called Rapture. For now these people are harmless. But our psychologists expect that when the Cell Games start and these people are not taken into heaven they might become violent. That since God rejected them they now feel they can do whatever they want and have nothing to lose and that the risk of African style End of Days death cults becomes very great.."

As he listened General Hammond didn't envy the new SecDef's job. Not only did he have to come up with a way to defeat Cell, he also had to keep the country from falling apart. And if possible some of the rest of the world as well. In contrast Hammond just had to come up with a way to defeat Cell.

"Ideas, anyone?" the new SecDef said as he looked around the room. Whereupon everybody fell silent.

Then somebody spoke up.

"How about that Schnitzengruber fellow?" one general tentatively spoke up.

"What, you mean that action hero idiot?" the new SecDef said surprised.

"Why don't we use him instead?" the general said.

"What? Like in actually fighting Cell?" another general said condescending, "He's an idiot. Correction he's a _German_ idiot!"

"Yeah, of course," the first general said, "There's no denying that. But the guy has a huge following. Even most of the Middle East knows his catchphrases by heart. I bet even in the darkest parts of Africa they know who he is."

"But he's an idiot!" the second general said in a tone like he thought he was the only sane person left in the whole world.

"But that's not important," the first general continued, "What matters is that we give people something to believe in. If people think that Bruce will come and save the day and say one of his patented catchphrases they won't be rioting in the streets. What the world needs right now is hope. Any kind of hope."

"An interesting idea," the new SecDef said intrigued, "Continue."

"We play into his game," the first general said, "we send him to the president, parade him through the country and then give him a first class ride to Afghanistan."

"He'll get a first class death at the hands of Cell," the second general snorted.

"Doesn't matter," the first general countered, "By then he has played his part. As long as the people have hope they won't riot or cause problems. And if we don't have to keep a lid on the American people and some of the rest of the world we would gain the freedom to come up with something to defeat Cell."

"It goes against everything I believe in, but this makes surprising good sense," an admiral echoed.

"I like this idea," the SecDef said, "Good thinking, Jeffrey, make it so."

Then the Secretary of Defense stood up.

"I want generals Hammond and Hayes to come with me," he said, "I want the rest of you to come up with more ideas with how we can bring back some order to the world. Gentlemen, walk with me."

Following the SecDef General Hammond and his Pentagon superior General Hayes made for the office of the Secretary of Defense. There they sat down again.

"Gentlemen," the SecDef said as he opened the extremely top secret gold file, the one that was about Saiyans and all other chi enhanced humans and allies, "I've read through this file and I was struck by the sheer amount of shenanigans and leeway that we have allowed these people for. The sheer incompetence of this, what was it, Vegeta, alone would be enough for anyone to be court-martialed. Is there any other way for us not to depend on these people?"

Hammond and Hayes looked at each other briefly, not sure what to say. Then Hayes spoke up.

"Unfortunately there isn't. For better of for worse our fate is now in their hands."

"Damn," the new SecDef said disappointed.

"On the plus side, thanks to this Belmovekk we did gain another Ha'tak battlecruiser," General Hayes continued, "Courtesy of Anubis leaving it in orbit for them to take. Plus it now looks that the Prometheus can be salvaged."

"And the repairs to the Stargate?" the SecDef asked.

"We fully expect to be operational again before the Cell Games commence," Hammond said, "We think we will have two full days to carry out any desired evacuation of essential personal to the Alpha Site."

"At least that's something," the Sec Def said approving, "I know just the kind of senator which will be the first to go and out of our hair."

"I'm pleased to hear that," Hammond said, then his cell phone rang, "Excuse me, it's the SGC."

As Hammond took the call, the SecDef turned to Hayes.

"What of our own soldiers in training?" he asked.

"We think up to twenty will be ready to deploy to the Cell Games," Hayes said. They won't make much of a difference but if Cell were to be defeated we could use them to explain to the general public how we won. And who knows, maybe Cell was right all along, maybe if we do bring enough bodies to that game we can actually swamp the guy."

"Good," the SecDef said approvingly, "Carry out and…."

Then Hammond spoke up.

"I have good news," he said excited, "The Asgard have arrived. Thor is in orbit with his battleship."

x

* * *

x

As always O'Neill was notified by the arrival of Thor by his customary teleporting him without any prior notice. So, as many times before, he found himself suddenly on the bridge of Thor's own flagship.

"Greetings, O'Neill," Thor said as O'Neill looked around in his usual momentary bewilderment.

"Thor, buddy, what brings you to our neck of the woods," O'Neill said as he quickly recovered.

"I have come to track a strange signal that emanated from your Galaxy, O'Neill," Thor said as he brought up a holographic projection of the Milky Way, which then zoomed in on a particular star and planet which meant nothing to O'Neill, "For several of your Earth minutes our sensors were bombarded with these strange signals until they suddenly disappeared. I tracked the signal to this planet and found signs of incredible devastation near the Stargate."

"Oh," O'Neill said as he suddenly had an idea of what Thor was after.

"We were unable to find any more signs of the origin of this signal at that location," Thor continued, "But when we passed near Earth our sensors detected something that seems remarkably similar. It wasn't as strong but the similarities were too great to be ignored."

"Yeah," O'Neill said as he scratched the back of his head, "About that. Before I answer that, can you tell me why this…., um, signal, has you guys spooked?"

"We believe that this signal tells of a power O'Neill, one so powerful that it can destroy your galaxy. And ours as well."

"Oh boy," O'Neill sighed.

x

* * *

x

A-Day +17

x

As the 'House' of Movekk as they called it opened the door of the Room of Spirit and Time and left the ever dutiful Mr. Popo was the first to re-enter the room in order to stock it again.

Leaving Mr. Popo to his work Belmovekk walked towards the others waiting where Piccolo was the first to give his judgment.

"Still far below Goku," the Namek said matter of fact, "Hell, you're even below Vegeta. I thought you were the strongest of the three?"

"No more it would seem," Belmovekk said equally matter of fact.

"I see," Piccolo said appraising, "Interesting. Are you ready to talk about Goku's plan yet?"

"No," Belmovekk replied shaking his head.

"Hmm," Piccolo snorted politely.

"If the two of you are going to exchange monosyllabic expressions of arrogance, can you please do it somewhere else?" Xander said as he tried move past, "No matter how enjoyable this past year was, I've had it with that stupid room. Here, you're in charge of the list now."

Xander pulled a crumpled old piece of paper from behind his battered Saiyan chest piece and gave it to Piccolo.

"I'm going home," Xander said as he shouldered his duffel bag, then he took off, a trail of chi blazing behind him.

"What crawled up his butt?" Riley asked as he put his arms around Buffy, "He's been griping about that room from day one."

"Go inside and find out," Buffy said back, then she put her head against his shoulder, "It's not just the room. It brings back memories for him. Painful memories. Of her."

"Oh," Riley said pretending to understand but didn't. Then before he could say anything Tien came up to them.

"You've improved greatly," he said towards Buffy, "In ways I didn't even think was possible as a human."

"Uh, thanks I guess?" Buffy said slightly confused, then she shook her head, "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to talking to other people other then my family for two years."

"I understand," Tien nodded, "It must be weird going into that room for a whole year."

"You have no idea," Buffy said as she shook her head.

"I have to say though, you all came out relatively sane," Riley said, "Xander and Faith seemed broken, Vegeta came out even more sour. And yet you and Mayan seem hardly changed. If anything she actually seems to be more relaxed."

"That was because we went in there as a family," Buffy said after some thinking, "Crazy though it seemed at first, us being there all together really helped to take the edge of things. I finally was able to understand her and where she comes from. And she finally seems to able to distinguish between me and her sister in her future."

"She's got a sister in her future?" Riley said surprised, ""You mean Dawn?"

"If only," Buffy said rolling her eyes, "It's me. Apparently I'm some kind of vegetable on life support that abandoned her when she was little."

"I…..," Riley tried to say, then he changed his mind, "Wow, what complicated web we weave."

"That is so messed up," Tien said as he glanced towards Trunks and Mayan who were sitting together elsewhere like a couple in love, "Although it does explain certain things."

Then Tien looked at Buffy again.

"So," he said hesitantly, "were you able to…. um, go…. um Super?"

Buffy rolled her eyes again in exasperation.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that?"

"Because it would be cool if you could?" Riley said deadpan.

"Then you do it," Buffy bit back annoyed, "Belmo's been busting my chops over this for two years now. I think that if I could I would have by now."

"I wouldn't mind if I could," Riley said.

"Me too," Tien said, then he turned around and walked away.

"Why do you want to be a Super Saiyan?" Buffy asked Riley, "I've been in there with Xander for a year and he says its incredible painful. He has to take painkillers like its candy."

"Yeah but then I could take on Cell myself," Riley said as he tightened his embrace, "I could kill Cell and save the world."

"So you want to be a hero then?" Buffy said mocking.

"No…, I…, but…," Riley stammered as he was lost for words, "No, I don't want to be a hero. I just want to…, well."

"Be very careful," Buffy said, her voice on edge, "Think very careful what you're going to say. I don't care for this macho male chauvinist thingy. There's only room for one Belmo in my life and I'm sure as hell not going to marry another."

"So we're going to get married?" Riley said with a big grin on his face, causing Buffy to glare at him.

"Good comeback," she finally said appreciatively, then she looked aside as she suddenly saw Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter come around a corner, "What's Colonel Cassandra doing here?"

Then her jaw nearly hit the floor as she saw what was following them.

x

* * *

x

He had heard about this so-called Room of Spirit and Time, being told it was a place where people could train non-stop for a whole year while only a day passes outside but as O'Neill stood inside the room for the first time he couldn't help but think that words couldn't describe this place.

No, he was wrong, there was one word that did describe this place. The desolate white flat plain that stretched into infinity, the thin air that made breathing hard. And the pull of increased gravity that he could feel even while standing on the dais several feet from its edge.

The word was hell.

People had spent up to two full years in here. He didn't think he was going to last a whole day. And to think there were fellow soldiers outside waiting to take their turns in here.

Madness!

Behind him Carter was busy with Thor, who was taking measurements. They seemed quite excited. Which has hardly a surprise. It wasn't everyday that you could be inside some weird pocket dimension.

"And? Found any interesting fun facts?" O'Neill asked.

"This place is amazing," Carter said excited, "Thor's scanners indicate there is no curvature. It goes flat into every direction for like forever. He literally cannot detect any end to it. Including up there.

Carter pointed into the air.

"So it's big?" O'Neill said in his usual concise way.

"Big doesn't even cover it," Carter said incredulously, "the air pressure stays the same no matter how high you go. Since it goes into near infinity the weight of all that air should have crushed us. But it doesn't. It goes against all laws of physics."

"I don't think this place gives a damn about the laws of physics, Carter," O'Neill said as he looked at the white plain, "I don't think this place gives a lot about anything. Least of which the poor bastards who have be in here."

"I cannot find any signs of hidden technology that goes into maintaining this place," Thor said as he finished his examinations, "Who or whatever created this place, their technology is beyond our comprehension."

"Maybe that Piccolo dude was right," O'Neill said pensive, "Maybe there is no technology. Just magic."

"With all due respect, sir," Carter objected, "any sufficiently advanced technology beyond our comprehension is similar to magic. It doesn't however magically make it magic though."

"Maybe Daniel was right," O'Neill said, still staring at the great white, "If this place is not some former Ancient facility, but something else instead, then anything we know doesn't apply. And maybe magic does make this place possible."

"Are you finished?"

As they turned around they saw Trunks and Mayan standing on the dais.

"It's kinda our turn now," Mayan said.

x

* * *

x

The Marine sniper peered through the visor of his rifle at his target. Beside him his spotter peered at the target through his binoculars.

"Bang, you're dead," the sniper said softly, not taking his eye of the target.

It was Cell.

The creature just stood there like a statue on his little arena.

"If only it was that easy," the spotter remarked.

They were survivors of Task Force Steel Cobra and as such had first hand experience at how utterly invulnerable Cell was.

Normally after such a crushing defeat any survivors would have to fall back and regroup. Even allow other units to take over. Unfortunately, thanks to the previous Secretary of Defense, there weren't any reinforcements to be had thanks to his strategy of only using the bare minimum. Whatever other American forces there were in Afghanistan, they were busy fighting the Taliban and Al-Qai'da forces still left in the country. Since only the Marine contingent had survived Cell's counterattack as a somewhat still operational unit, it was now up to them to maintain a close watch.

So now the Marine snipers, and the other survivors settled in for a long uneasy watch. To make sure to keep an eye on Cell and keep others away from him. Although they were puzzled as to who in his right mind would want to come here and play tag with Cell.

x

* * *

x

"Earth's savior? Or Earth's greatest joke? Who can tell?"

As the TV political talkshow host looked into the camera an image of action movie Bruce Schnitzengruber, dressed in his old professional wrestling outfit, appeared next to him.

"Ever since Bruce Schnitzengruber announced on the Tonight Show his intention to go to the Cell Games and kick Cell's ass he's taken the world's imagination by storm. Even in the darkest crevasses of Africa fans of the actor believe that he can do it. Others on the other hand think he's nuts. The New York Times went so far as saying this is either a cynical ploy to promote his new movie, or the greatest hoax somebody actually played on Bruce at his expense. One of his own making."

"Strangely enough the US government seems to take his announcement very serious, with a senior Pentagon official saying that they are more then willing to give Bruce a free ride to the Cell Games. I guess it would seem that the new Secretary of Defense is a very big fan of the Devil's Rock. I also guess that in these crazy absurd times, what's a little more crazy compared to that?"

"Thus ends day five of Cell's ultimatum to the world. Only four more days to go."

x

* * *

x

A-Day+18

x

As Trunks and Mayan left the Room of Spirit and Time they found the next group waiting. Tien, Jamison and four other soldiers were ready to go. Of course they now had to wait for the Lookout's dutiful Djinn to restock and clean the Room of Spirit and Time.

They were waiting when suddenly Belmovekk materialized out of nowhere.

"Piccolo, are you going back in?" Belmovekk asked.

"No, Tien will," Piccolo said, "I'm going in tomorrow."

"I see," Belmovekk said as he cupped his chin, "Can I see the schedule?"

"In fact you can keep it," Piccolo said as he handed Xander's crumpled piece of paper over, "I've memorized it."

Belmovekk studied the roster, then he looked at Piccolo again.

"I see that Major Finn goes in with you?" he asked, "And goes in a second time after that."

"Yeah," Piccolo said, "Him and Jamison came to the conclusion that while they could learn from Tien and Me, somebody else had to train the last two groups. They volunteered to go back in."

"How very….., noble of them?" Belmovekk said, then he put away the piece of paper, "This complicates matters."

"Oh? In what way," Piccolo asked, but Belmovekk seemed too lost in thought to hear him.

"Now I have to wait another day," Belmovekk muttered to himself, "Can I do that? She would be angry though if he missed it."

"Never mind that I'm around," Piccolo said sarcastically.

Belmovekk debated himself some more when Mr. Popo emerged from the Room of Spirit and Time and gave the all clear, upon which Tien and the soldiers went inside. It was only after they had gone inside that Belmovekk looked at Piccolo.

"I want you and the others to come on the last day before the Cell Games," he said solemnly, "Come to me in Sunnydale at noon in my gravity gym and all shall be revealed."

"What?" Piccolo said surprised, "You're finally going to tell us what Goku's up too?"

"No," Belmovekk said shaking his head, "I will leave that up to him. But there are other truths that need revealing. Like why this is all happening."

"Oh," Piccolo said as he remembered, "That great unknown enemy you were sent to fight."

"Yes," Belmovekk nodded, "It is time you all know the truth. So remember, the day before the Cell Games, noon, my gym."

Then the Saiyan brought two fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

"Great," Piccolo growled sarcastically, "I can hardly wait."

x

* * *

x

Usually when Belmovekk used his instant transmission to teleport into the SGC he had the good manners to do so and arrive outside at the gates. But this time he disregarded that and materialized right into Hammond's office, who was there in a meeting with O'Neill and several more department heads.

To say that General Hammond wasn't pleased was an understatement.

But by now the Saiyan knew how to take a dressing down with a smile and once Hammond was finished chewing him out Belmovekk gave him his invitation.

All the while however O'Neill, who was usually the first to yell at Belmovekk, had said nothing. At least not aloud. Instead he spoke softly into a wireless communicator. It was only when Belmovekk was finished and about to leave again that O'Neill spoke up.

"Wait! There is somebody who wants to have a talk with you," O'Neill said, then he grinned and spoke into his communicator, "Now, Thor, buddy."

At first nothing happened, then Belmovekk slowly seemed to begin to fade and you could even look right through him.

"What is this?" Belmovekk said puzzled, "Some sort of teleportation beam?"

Then Belmovekk balled his fists and raised his power, causing chi flames to erupt around him and winds to blow through Hammond's office.

"BELMOVEKK, STOP IT!" Hammond yelled but there was no need. As soon as Belmovekk raised his energy the transporter lock on him was broken and the see through thing disappeared. And as soon as that happened Belmovekk lowered his energy again and his chi flames disappeared.

"That was an Asgard teleportation beam," the Saiyan said wide eyed, "There are Asgard here?"

"Their high commander is in orbit right now," General Hammond said, "He arrived a few days ago. Apparently Cell's chi reached even into their galaxy. They were worried."

"And rightly so they should," Belmovekk said as he brought his fingers to his forehead and extended his senses, "I shall have a word with him."

"You could be having a word right now if you let yourself get beamed aboard," O'Neill exclaimed, causing Belmovekk to glare at him.

"A Saiyan does not let himself be taken, he only goes on his own volition," Belmovekk said snide. Then he disappeared.

x

* * *

x

Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were on board Thor's ship, working with the alien to decipher the strange markings found on the Lookout and the general origin of the Lookout when they received Jack's call that Belmovekk had made an appearance at the SGC.

"What does he want?" Carter spoke into her communicator.

"Something about us needing to attend a meeting at his place," O'Neill's voice said.

"This Belmovekk, is that the Saiyan who contacted you?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Daniel nodded.

"Then I shall desire to have a word with him," Thor said and began tapping some of his controls.

"Thor is going to beam him up," Sam spoke into her communicator.

"Yeah, let's do that!" O'Neill said excited, then he spoke up, to address somebody on his side "Wait! There is somebody who wants to have a talk with you. Now, Thor, buddy."

Thor responded by activating his transporter.

But nothing happened at first. There was none of the instant teleportation that had you thinking you were still somewhere else. Then a faint outline of Belmovekk became visible.

"This isn't normal, right?" Daniel spoke up, "Usually it goes faster."

"I am encountering…., resistance," Thor said surprised, "This has never happened before."

Then the faint outline of Belmovekk began to glow as it was surrounded by golden ghost flames. And then he rapidly disappeared.

"I was unable to maintain a lock," Thor said regretful.

"They can do that?" Carter said shocked as she looked at Thor.

"It would appear so, Major Carter," Thor said.

"Well I guess that rules out teleporting Cell into space," Daniel said, "Or the su….."

Before he could finish his sentence Belmovekk appeared right between them.

"You wished to see me?" he said deadpan.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+19

x

"How was it?" Piccolo asked as Tien and the soldiers came out of the Room of Spirit and Time, "Did you finally manage to…. ?"

"No," Tien said sounding completely demoralized and exhausted, "I didn't."

"Maybe your theory that Xander's Saiyan genes have spread themselves all over humanity was wrong," Piccolo said, "Or maybe you're just not one of those people?"

"Tell me something I don't know," Tien said snide, "Maybe I should have let myself be cursed by a Chaos Warlock as well."

"Woulda, coulda, shoulda," Piccolo shrugged.

"Yeah, you're right," Tien shrugged as he sat down, "There's no point wishing in having what you don't have."

"Are you going back inside?" Piccolo asked, "There's still two more days after this one."

"No, I've had my fill," Tien said tired, "It's obviously not going to happen. Goku was right. At some point going back in is just torturing yourself."

"Suit yourself," Piccolo said, then he turned around, "Major, Finn, ready your men. As soon as Mr. Popo is finished we go in."

As Piccolo walked away Tien stared ahead blankly.

But not inside. The seed had been planted and the idea was still growing. It made no sense for only Saiyans and half-Saiyans to be able to transform into a more powerful state. Freeza could also do it. Some of his henchmen could also transform. Considering that Saiyans were so genetically compatible with humans it just had to be that what was possible to Saiyans was also possible for humans. Maybe it was easier for Saiyans, but it just had to be there. Somewhere somehow there had to be a way for a human to transform into a more powerful state as well.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+20

x

"YEAH NEW YORK!"

As Bruce finished his speech he dropped the microphone and began striking some of his poses, followed up by some punches and karate kicks.

"Well, I'll say this for him," O'Neill said as he picked up the TV remote and switched off the television, "For a guy his age he's disgustingly fit."

"I can't believe people are buying into this…, this bullshit!" Daniel said as he shook his head in bewilderment.

"Whoa, Dannyboy uses strong language," O'Neill grinned, "We're finally turning you into a soldier after all.

"Yeah but that was the biggest load of nonsense," Daniel said as he gestured towards the television, "There's no way in hell that this guy will ever even make Cell sit up and take notice. Teal'c?"

"Daniel Jackson is right," Teal'c said dead serious, "This man will not stand a chance against Cell."

"I thought he made some fine points," O'Neill said appreciatively, "More then most politicians we have to obey."

"He's not running for office, Jack," Daniel countered, "He's going to be on a plane toward Cell tomorrow and….. oh my God, you're a fan, aren't you, Jack?"

"Of course not, who do you think….," O'Neill said, then he buried his face in his hands, "Alright, I admit it, I do like his movies. Is that such a crime?"

"No," Daniel said, "But letting this guy go the Cell Games is. He's going to get himself killed!"

"I know," O'Neill said dejected, "But he's actually managing get the people's spirit up. Rioting is down 40 percent. Even in the Middle East they've stopped doing their favorite sport, burning American flags."

"It's still wrong!" Daniel said vehemently.

"So is despair," O'Neill said as he turned his back to Daniel, "The needs of the many, Daniel, the needs of the many. And who knows, maybe the Pentagon will stop him in Kabul."

"And what if they don't?"

"Well, to be honest, he hasn't made a good movie in years," O'Neill said flat, "So maybe we are doing him a favor. And who knows. He might actually survive this and end up running for president."

x

* * *

x

A-Day+21

x

After two grueling years in the Room of Spirit and Time, one as a student to Piccolo, the other as a teacher himself, Riley finally emerged from that accursed room and walked right into Buffy's loving embrace.

"Hello, lover," Buffy said as she took him in her arms. To which Riley said nothing and just buried his face in her shoulder. She could even swear he was quietly crying. Having spent two years in that God awful place herself she could understand that his breakdown. That place was as malignant as the most evil demon to come visit the Hellmouth. It ate people's souls. And the only reason she hadn't broken down was having her mother and her sisters there with her. Being together there as a family had helped. She'd never admit it to Belmo, because then he would become insufferable, but that idea at least had paid off.

She let Riley have his moment for what seemed like several minutes, then he unburied his face and smiled at her.

"I love you," he said softly. She smiled back but didn't say the same words back to him.

"Let's make it through the coming days before running off to Vegas," she said.

"That's okay," Riley grinned, then he winked, "I love you."

"Yeah, ditto," she said, "Let's go home. Belmo's planning his little dinner party and you're invited."

"Good," Riley said, then he turned around and shouted, "I WANT EVERYBODY TO KNOW THAT I LOVE BUFFY SUMMERS!"

Some of the soldiers applauded, some laughed and a few made a few disparaging remarks. All in good faith of course.

"Oh God," Buffy said as she facepalmed herself, "Next thing he's going to drop on his knees and pro…., oh God, don't you dare! Riley Finn! Don't you da…."

Before she could finish her sentence Riley had already dropped to his knees.

"Well, will you make me the happiest man in the world?" Riley asked with a big goofy grin.

"You're joking, aren't you?" Buffy asked aghast, "Please tell me you're joking."

"A gentleman never jokes about such things," Riley said deadpan, "And when a man has to spend two years of his life in an absolute hell hole he does a lot of thinking. Thinking about what the rest of his life will look like. And you kinda want the rest of your life to start right now."

"I'm not having this conversation," Buffy said as she turned around and put her hands over her ears, "lalalalalalalala…"

"That's okay," Riley said, "You do what you want. I'll just go to the Supreme Source. You're of the House of Movekk now. I'll just go to Satiya and ask him the hand of his daughter in marriage."

"That's low," Buffy said rattled as she uncovered her ears.

"Hey, I'm a soldier," Riley said calmly, "When the going gets tough, I call for air support."

x

* * *

x

"YEAH, AMERICA! I'LL BE BACK!"

"And with those words action movie star and former boxing and wrestling champion Bruce Schnitzengruber, by his fans lovingly called the Devil's Rock, boarded a US military transport plane to Baghram Airbase near Kabul."

The news anchorman was replaced on the screen by images of shouting crowds saying their goodbye to the movie star. Many of them holding up placards with some his famous lines.

Then the focus changed of ordinary streets in America being decorated with Schnitzengruber movie posters and banners and placards wishing him well.

"In the short time that Bruce announced that he would go to the Cell Games he seems to have taken the world by storm. These are scenes from Peshawar Pakistan."

A shot followed of what looked like strictly religious Muslims, AK-47's next to them as they were praying, prostrating themselves to the ground, but when they rose some of them could be seen wearing Schnitzengruber t-shirts.

"In Hong Kong people have continued to take vigil outside Jackie Chan's home, demanding that the movie star joins Schnitzengruber in fighting Cell. Jackie Chan has so far declined to comment."

"These are scenes from Brazzaville, Congo," the anchorman said as a film rolled of large groups of people, many of them dressed in rags, were watching Schnitzengruber movies in ad hoc cinemas right in the streets. Cheering as Bruce dealt swift summarily justice to movie bad guys.

"The world has gone completely mad," Xander said as he slowly shook his head, standing behind Anya seated on his couch in his living room. On another chair Angela sat, looking bored at the television.

"All things considering I think the world's holding up pretty good," Anya said without taking her eyes of the TV, "If it were up to me I'd be panicking and trying to escape to a different dimension."

"So why aren't you?" Xander asked.

"Hello, _former_ vengeance demon turned human here," Anya said pointing to herself, "There's not a whole lot I can do now, now can I?"

"Ah, the burden of being human," Xander sighed and turned around, "Such sweet sorrow. Is everything ready downstairs?"

"Yeah," Anya waved dismissively, "Buffy's mom did most of the catering so there wasn't a whole lot I needed to do."

"Well, then I won't keep you from your work," Xander said somewhat sarcastic, "Once you've put her to bed you don't need to wait for me."

"Fine," Anya waved dismissively, too engrossed in watching the news.

Leaving his own living room Xander made for the gravity gym downstairs and found that most people were already actually there. The only one missing were the actual Scoobies themselves. Well, that wasn't quite true. Willow was there laying her last hand on an intricate ward on the inner door of the gravity gym. And he could sense that Buffy and Riley were inbound, due to arrive at any moment.

"Hi Will, still busy I see?" Xander said.

"You know me, always busy," Willow smiled, then she pointed to her protective ward, "These don't finish themselves you know."

Then something fast and furry slipped by, only to be halted by Willow before it slipped into the gravity gym.

"Oh no you don't," Willow said as she picked up Max the cat by its neck and chided the animal, "This is not for you. Bad kitty!"

"Meow!" the cat said complaining.

"Poor Max," Xander said as he held out his hand, "I'll take her."

Willow handed the cat over.

"Meow."

"Yeah, I know," Xander said as he took Max into his arm and began to pet her as he walked back up the stairs, "You love the gym, don't you? You would have loved the Room of Spirit and Time. All the intense gravity and mayhem that you could ever want, you crazy cat."

"Meow," the cat said, sounding almost a little sad. Again, not for the first time, Xander eyed the cat suspiciously. Max was really the oddest cat he'd ever known. A neat little puzzle wrapped up in an enigma.

Having reached the top of the stairs Xander opened the door and put the cat through.

"Sorry Max, another time," he said, then he called towards Anya, "Keep an eye on Max, she's trying to get into the gym again."

"Meow!"

"Yeah, whatever," Anya replied dismissively. Xander then closed the door behind him and walked down again. Not for the last cursing that he couldn't find another help. He had tried others but in the end Angela freaked them all out. And for some strange reason Anya didn't. To bad she was only barely adequate as a help.

Xander reached the bottom of the stairs and walked right into Willow glaring angrily at him, holding up Max again by her neck.

"Meow?"

x

* * *

x

As Buffy entered the gravity gym with Riley she found almost all seats taken, with only a few in the back still available. Sitting next to the available seats was Xander, with Max the cat purring contently in his lap.

"Don't ask," Xander sighed tired.

Now that everybody was inside Willow closed the doors to the gym. As soon as she did the protective wards on the door and walls began to glow in a dark black light.

"I would like to welcome everybody," Belmovekk said at the other end, "I know it wasn't always easy for everyone to come. And some of you have come a long way indeed."

Belmovekk nodded briefly towards Thor.

"I have come here though to bear witness to a great truth. Cell, devastating though he may seem, is not our biggest problem."

The announcement caused some murmur to erupt.

"I know, this sounds crazy," Belmovekk continued, "But it is true. Even if we defeat Cell, most likely we will find ourselves soon fighting yet another menace that is even more powerful then Cell."

"Cell is certainly the greatest threat we _all_ have faced in our existence so far. But have none of you ever wondered why it is that each time you have vanquished your foe, another one comes along that is an even bigger threat? This is not a coincidence. Greater forces are at work here. But first I want my good friend Master Giles to tell you all a tale."

"I shall tell you a tale," Giles said solemnly as he took center stage, "A tale that is told from one Watcher to another, and to each Potential in training and every Slayer that gets Called. The world is older then we know of. Demons used to walk this Earth. Not the vampires and other demons we are familiar with."

As Giles spoke the gym's holographic generators projected images of the many vampires and demons that had been seen here in Sunnydale.

"These are just pale imitations of the Demons that once inhabited the Earth, "Giles continued and the pictures changed to old inscriptions, cave paintings and medieval drawings, all depicting huge demons, ones that dwarfed any human that was depicted next to it.

"All demon species currently inhabiting the Earth are watered down versions of these terrible abominations. We cannot even begin to fathom the horrors that faced early men, other then perhaps drawing a parallel to Cell."

"Over time, for reasons unknown their hold on this Earth began to wane. They lost power and mankind got the chance to develop. There is so preciously little that we know of those days. All that we know is that it coincided with the birth of the First Slayer. Man created the First Slayer to fight the last of the true demons. And all the remaining demons ever since. In turn the Council of Watchers was formed to help guide the Slayer in her fight."

"Thank you, Master Giles," Belmovekk said as he nodded politely walking past Giles, "For millennia, both Slayers and Watchers were told this story as they fought and died to hold back the darkness. For millennia the system held, holding the line against the darkness. And at the same time slowly the rot set in as a system set up to support the Slayer became more and more one to control the Slayer."

An image followed of the large ostentatious London suburb mansion that was the headquarters of the Watcher's Council.

"Did I say slow rot?" Belmovekk said as he pretended to have misspoken, "Maybe I should say it was designed that way from the start instead. But I digress. Master Giles told us the tale that has been passed down since the creation of the First Slayer. I will tell you know of a different tale. One which will tell the unknown side of the story."

"To paraphrase a certain movie, once upon a time, long ago, in a galaxy far away, on a planet unknown, there once lived a people who looked remarkably much like us. They were great thinkers and builders. Theirs would give rise to the first great civilization that we know of."

"You're talking about the Ancients, aren't you?" Daniel Jackson interjected.

"You are correct, Doctor Jackson," Belmovekk said.

"But that's impossible," Sam said, "all the evidence points to the Ancients having evolved on Earth, not elsewhere.'

"Then with all due respect, Commander Carter, your evidence is wrong," Belmovekk stated matter of fact, "The Ancients are not native to this planet or even this galaxy. They left their own to come here and made Earth their home."

An image of the Milky Way galaxy appeared and then it zoomed out until more galaxies became visible.

"Although I am not sure which I suspect the Ancients emerged from one of these three galaxies," Belmovekk said pointing to a cluster of galaxies, "And if I were you I would not try and find out which of them is their galaxy of origin. You see, not all of them left."

"Over time a schism grew among these people, a schism that was too great to bridge over. So they parted ways. One group, believing in technology and science, abandoned their own planet and galaxy and came to this one. Here they made Earth their home and became known as the Ancients. Those who stayed behind put their faith into religion. They are known as the Ori. And the Ori really, really, really hate the Ancients. You would do well not to draw their attention to this galaxy. "

"When the Ancients arrived in this Galaxy they searched long for a planet to make their home, until they found Earth. For reasons unknown Earth is a nexus of great dimensional energies. They also found it a world that was teeming with life. Including a simian lifeform that was remarkably similar to their own."

"On Earth the Ancients changed humanity in its evolutionary development to become more like them. They also began the process of seeding early humans on the many inhabitable planets of the Milky Way, whilst at the same time building the great galaxy spanning network of Stargates."

"Then something else happened. A plague that struck only the Ancients and killed off most of them. The origin of the plague was unknown although some of the Ancients suspected that their Ori brethren were responsible for it. Anyway, as the plague closed in on Earth, the Ancients here decided to abandon this galaxy and make for another one. They even relocated their mythical city of Atlantis to this new galaxy."

A drawing of a strange alien yet also very human city in the middle of an ocean appeared.

"How do you know all this?" Sam interjected again, "We are looking for the location of this city of Atlantis, and so is Anubis. And yet you know all of this."

"My sources are various," Belmovekk said a little bit smug, "For one the library at the Lookout contained many observations on the Ancients. I also managed to contact an Ancient by the name of Oma Desala. I was also contacted by an entity that called himself the First Evil who pointed me to the library on the Lookout and others."

"You actually got Oma Desala to talk to you in anything else but cryptic?" O'Neill said impressed.

"Actually she was very forthcoming," Belmovekk said, "Unlike the other Ancients she shares a different vision, more in line with mine."

"Now I'm not sure whether to be impressed or worried," O'Neill said.

"In the end the new galaxy didn't work out for the Ancients, as there too they encountered a foe too powerful for them to defeat. They were forced to abandon Atlantis and return back to Earth. But the Earth they returned too was a very different one from the one they had abandoned."

"In their absence something had caused the Earth's inter-dimensional energies to change. Inter-dimensional portals had now opened, causing gateways between this dimension and several Hell dimensions. Demons were now roaming the Earth. The Big Ones. Scary Ones."

"These Demons were pretty powerful. And thanks to their magic they were more then a match for the Ancients technology. Driven off the Earth, with nowhere else to go, the Ancients had to gather allies to fight the Demons, lest they would spread. Thus they created the First Great Alliance to fight off the Demon threat. Thank you, Warmaster Thor for helping fill in the last remaining pieces of the puzzle."

Belmovekk made a polite bow towards Thor.

"The Great Alliance managed to halt and reverse the inroads the Demons had made. Eventually they were able to take back Earth and the Great Alliance was victorious. The portals between this dimension and the Hell dimensions were closed. But not forever, as they remained dormant as the current day Hellmouths."

"Victorious though they had been, the war had taken its toll on the Ancients. As they set upon an uneasy vigil they still had to mop up many of the Demons that had managed to escape. Due to their low numbers they decided to use the weapons of their enemies, magic, against these Demons. For the first time the Ancients applied their science to the study of magic. And they learned many great things."

"The study of magic and demon lore not only gave the Ancients better means to fight the Demons, it also netted the Ancients an even greater prize. Ascension itself. The means to evolve from the corporal to the non-corporal."

"When is this getting relevant?" Vegeta said both bored and annoyed, "Too much fairy tales and nonsense, not enough getting to the point."

"I will get there," Belmovekk said annoyed, "It's all part of one great story."

"All part of one great piece of baloney," Vegeta muttered.

"Shut up, Vegeta," Piccolo growled annoyed.

"You shut up," Vegeta snorted back.

"Anyway," Belmovekk continued, "before I was rudely interrupted, the Ancients now found themselves with the means to ascend to a higher plane of existence. But to do so would mean abandoning everything that they had fought for. Abandoning humanity. Risk a return of the Demons. They couldn't do that."

"Eventually however that choice was made for them. In their galaxy of origin those that had remained behind also discovered the secret of Ascension. And they were eager to ascend and as they called it become Gods. As the Ori they now forced beings all across their galaxy to submit into worshiping them. And next they scoured other galaxies for other beings that could worship them."

"Wait," O'Neill said, "You once said something about some great enemy that wants to become Gods. You're talking about these Ori, right?"

"No," Belmovekk said as he shook his head, "The Ori already consider themselves Gods. They feel they already have what they want and are quite content with it. I am talking about the Ancients."

"What?" Sam said shocked, "The Ancients are our enemies? That makes no sense."

"Well, technically not all Ancients," Belmovekk said, "Once the Ancients learned that their brethren back home had ascended they felt that they had no choice but to Ascend themselves. It is these Ancients who now ward off the Ori and keep them from learning that humans live in this galaxy. As far as the Ori are concerned this place is barren to them. And I think it would be best if we were to let them to continue to believe this. I know the SGC has a bad habit of accidentally sticking their nose into things best left unstuck. This is one of these things."

"But to get back to the point, not all Ancients ascended. For the second time in their race's history a schism occurred. While most Ancients ascended to ward off the Ori, another group decided that they couldn't abandon the physical plane. That they had to guide humanity. Protect it from the occult. It was they who created the Watcher's Council, which actually predates the First Slayer as a means of gathering intelligence on and organizing resistance against the demons. And it was they who would create the First Slayer."

"With the Watcher's Council and the First Slayer they had finally given humanity a means to fight the remaining Demons until only the half-demons remained. Once they were sure that humanity could fight the half-demons gradually the remaining Ancients ascended as well."

"But they didn't join their brethren. They had vowed to take care of Earth and its Hellmouth and they set upon watching, keeping an eye on the Hellmouths, making sure that the Demons could never return and that the lesser demons didn't spread across the galaxy. To set themselves apart from the Ancients, who focused on keeping the Ori away, they called themselves differently. They call themselves the Powers That Be."

Some murmur erupted, then O'Neill raised his hand.

"This is all fine and dandy but why haven't we heard of these so called Powers That Be before?"

"Because they mainly deal with the occult," Giles spoke up, "And frankly, the Council has gone a long way to make sure that no government agency gets involved in the occult."

"That's nonsense," O'Neill snorted.

"Is it?" Giles stated matter of fact, "I can name at least half a dozen legally binding treaties that prohibit what happened last year in Cleveland. The charter of Mieux, the Saint-Marc convent, the Hague covenant, the treaties of Constantine, the Chengdu agreements and the accords of Teohatihuacan to name but a few."

"I've never heard of any of them," O'Neill said incredulously, "It could mean anything!"

"Have you ever heard of the Bretton-Woods accords," Giles asked.

"What, another one your mysterious mumbo-jumbo agreements?" O'Neill snorted.

"No, just the financial basis on which the whole world economy you know has been built," Giles said deadpan, "just because you haven't heard of an agreement does not mean its not binding or has no bearing on you. For millennia it has been Council policy to keep the supernatural away from regular lay persons against all cost to the point that most people don't believe in magic any more. If they did and knew that vampires and demons existed, that magic exists, chances are that they would be less vulnerable. But then the Council wouldn't be able to operate as freely as it has been for all this time."

"That seems kinda callous," Daniel said, "Aren't they supposed to be in it to protect mankind?"

"They are," Giles said, "but they're in to save the species, not every individual."

"Overall the Powers That Be have gone out of their way to keep their existence a secret," Belmovekk continued, "a secret known only to the initiated. And yet their influence here on Earth knows no bounds. Especially through their lapdogs at the Council. For millennia the Powers That Be fought the Great Struggle with the demons. And then the unthinkable happened."

"They won."

"I am not sure when it happened exactly, but records obtained by masters Giles and Wyndham-Pryce show that the average life span of a Slayer actually increased until about 3000 years ago, then it sharply declined."

Statistics were being projected behind Belmovekk.

"There aren't a lot of written records left from that era. Supposedly a fire destroyed most of them. But it is interesting to know that some surviving records from before that time do convey a feeling that the Council was winning. Whereas the records after that only talk of the Great Stalemate. That the war cannot be won, only that there is a balance between light and dark and that it has to be maintained lest reality fall apart. That when one side gains the upper hand, the other will up the ante and unleash even greater evil, or good for that matter."

"This is complete and utter nonsense of course. Nobody in his right mind would wage a war whose only objective is a stalemate. If the Demon dimensions still wish to invade and take over the Earth they aren't going to rely on unreliable vampires and half-demons, they would come pouring through the Hellmouths guns blazing. Any Warleader worth its name who can escalate a war in order to win will do so. No, there is a different reason for this stalemate. And it has nothing to do with maintaining Balance. The Powers That Be have grown bored playing their game."

"I have no doubts that they may have started out with good intentions. Wanting to fight the good fight. But as they were winning the war and the Demon dimensions proved unable to breach the Hellmouths a certain complacency began to set in. They began to view their struggle as a game. And a game is only as interesting as the opponent you are fighting. I know this because I am a Saiyan and to us there is no greater satisfaction then to test yourself in combat against the strongest possible opponent. Weak opponents just hold no interest to us. There have been many instances of Saiyans who have literally walked away from an inferior opponent because they were too boring to fight."

Belmovekk, and others too for that matter, glanced briefly at Vegeta.

"The same thing happened with the Powers That Be. They could counter every move the demons made. They learned how to actually reverse and close the Hellmouths for good. But that would also rob them of their purpose. It became far more fun trying to fight the war with one arm behind their back, just to see if they could. And then it became all about the fun. Their fun."

"Games were being played with people's lives. The Council was allowed to become a perversion of its own purpose. Slayers were allowed to die at an accelerated rate. The Powers That Be actually began to work against the Council so as to give the demons a fighting chance. For a while it was fun. And then even that grew boring. And then they learned of a new game."

"Long ago, during the creation of time, a planet exploded in the wrong place at the wrong time. Normally this wouldn't be such a big event. But this time everything was in the right place to create a disaster of epic proportions. As a result the purpose of the very universe itself got split into two possible outcomes. One light, one dark. Also as a result the universe cannot move on until that outcome has been settled."

"But as the universe waits for the dueling necessities to produce a winner, others are stepping into the void. Through ascension the Ori, Ancients and Powers That Be have gained near Godlike powers. But who is to say what will happen once that struggle gets decided upon?"

"The Ori consider themselves Gods already and if they know of the Great Struggle they do not seem to care. Likewise the Ancients, locked in their own struggle with the Ori care not either. But the Powers That Be, they do care."

"As they lack a true purpose other then find new ways to amuse themselves the Powers That Be figured that they have the most to lose from a resolution. It gave them quite something that could pass as sleepless nights. And then it hit upon them. If the purpose of the universe could be derailed once, why could it not be derailed again?"

"The Ori think of themselves as Gods, but what if the Powers That Be could elevate themselves to become real Gods? If they could derail the two dueling Necessities and substitute it with one of their own creation they could ascend even further. And as Gods they would now be able to shape the very essence of the universe."

"For years now the Powers That Be have been trying to destroy the very same planet they once swore to protect. For Earth is the key. The Nexus between dimension whose destruction would start a chain reaction so powerful it would create a new cosmic destiny. And elevate the Powers That Be to become real Gods."

"They have to thread very careful though. They can't destroy Earth openly. That would draw in the Ancients and possibly the Ori as well. It could lead to their destruction before their new Necessity has a chance to deliver."

"So they nudge things subtle. Try to set things in motion. Create chains of events that would ultimately lead to Earth's destruction. I would not be surprised if the Powers That Be are responsible for Doctor Jackson unraveling the mystery of the Stargate, that put Earth on a collision course with the Goa'uld. And all the other nasties that are out there. We know that the Powers That Be are in contact with Anubis and have given him both council and access to advanced weaponry. Including the Majin."

"Here on Earth they also influence things. According to Master Giles there has been a stark increase in the number of attempts to bring forth the apocalypse in the past twenty years."

A curve was projected which was remarkably steady over the last hundred years, then around 1980 it shut upwards.

"As you can see the average Slayer today faces about the same number of apocalypse attempts as ten consecutive Slayers did around the previous turn of the century. And while most of them do not involve physically destroying Earth, the attempts to actually destroy Earth itself has increased by a factor of three. It does not end there though."

A new scene was being projected by the gym's holographic projectors. It showed a man, sitting tied in a chair, his face beaten and bloodied. He was sitting slumped, the life drained out of him.

"Ohmigod!" Buffy exclaimed softly.

"You recognize him?" Riley asked surprised.

"That's Whistler," she said shocked, "He was this guy that….., he told me…."

"He told you lies," Xander said matter of fact. Which caused Buffy to look at Xander.

"You knew?" she said shocked, "When….?"

"About after I returned from my 'road trip'," Xander said calmly, "And before you have a freakout, listen."

"State your name," Belmovekk's voice said calmly somewhere off screen.

"Not again," the bloodied man moaned defeated, then he screamed in pain as electricity coursed through him, "AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"You really are a slow learner, are you not?" Belmovekk's voice said disdainful, "Your name?"

"Whistler," the bloodied man panted after the electricity stopped.

"Race?"

"Balancing demon."

"Explain," Belmovekk's voice said, "for the record."

"It's just a name given to us," Whistler said, "we're the non-violent demons."

"So it does not entail any actual balancing?" Belmovekk's voice said, "How curious. Occupation?"

"I run errands," Whistler said.

"What kind of errands?"

"I talk to people, deliver messages, arrange things," Whistler panted.

"I see," Belmovekk's voice said, "If you are an errand boy you obviously run errands for others. Who are they?"

"Look, man," Whistler said pleading, "I really don't want to…., I mean…., you can obviously torture me, but these….., they can hear and see everything."

"I understand," Belmovekk's voice said detached, "You obviously fear your employers more then you do me. That is understandable. The problem is… you should fear me more."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Whistler yelled as Belmovekk hit him with electricity again. Then he screamed even more, his voice getting raspier and coarser by the second.

"Again, your employers?" Belmovekk's voice said calmly. For a while no reply came as Whistler was too busy coming to grips with his recent round of torture.

"Please…., mercy….," Whistler finally said panting.

"I can keep this up all night long if you like," Belmovekk said dispassionate, like it meant nothing to him.

"You…, don't …., know…."

"Who I am dealing with?" Belmovekk's voice snorted, "My good fellow, I am doom incarnate. I am the person you keep around, locked behind glass labeled break in case of emergency. I am the doomsday weapon when you absofuckinglutely have to kill every known motherfucker out there and you do not give one flying fuck about collateral damage. And I can guarantee you, if you fear retribution from your employers, by the time I am finished with you you _will_ be beyond fear. I have set up these machines to administer pain even in my absence. If need be you will suffer for months on end."

"Where the hell did he do this?" Buffy whispered towards Xander.

"In the basement," Xander whispered back.

"What basement?" Buffy asked surprised.

"The secret one right here," Xander said and pointed to the floor of the gravity gym.

"But they can hear us," Whistler panted, "They can hear and see everything."

"Not if you apply the right kind of protective wards," Belmovekk's voice said. It was then that Buffy noticed that the glowing wards on the gym's walls and doors were the same as one that could be seen glowing faintly somewhere behind Whistler.

More torture followed together with more screaming. Which made Buffy all the more grateful that her mother wasn't present. Hell, she wished that she wasn't present. This was sick stuff to see. And she could see that it was making others uncomfortable as well. Which made it all the more strange that Belmo was just showing this to everyone. She knew he that he was capable of doing terrible things, and that he had done terrible things since coming into her life. But she just didn't want to know about them. It was one thing to know that he was doing these things, a whole different thing to actually see them.

"Enough!" Whistler yelled, "I'll talk! I'll talk!"

The torture stopped and Whistler slumped in his chair, again panting heavily.

"Well?" Belmovekk's voice asked.

"They're called the Powers That Be," Whistler panted heavily.

"I see," Belmovekk said interested, "Tell me more about them."

"They're a bunch of ascended assholes," Whistler panted, "Real manipulative cunts!"

"You do not seem overly fond of your employers?" Belmovekk's voice asked.

"I'm not fond of you and yet we're talking, aren't we?" Whistler said back, "It's a working relationship."

"So you run errands for the Powers That Be," Belmovekk asked, "Tell me off a few of these errands. Like the ones we talked about earlier."

"Didn't I alre….," Whistler said, then he remembered not to give the big scary Saiyan any lip, "Alright, alright, no need to hurt me! In 1997 I was sent by one of the Powers to New York."

"What was your mission?"

"To find the vampire Angel, who at that time was living like a homeless bum in the gutters, feeding off rats. I was to straighten him out and take him to Los Angeles."

"Why was that?" Belmovekk asked in his detached voice again.

"So I could introduce him to one Buffy Summers," Whistler said, "Make him fall in love with her. That's my specialty you see."

"Making people fall in love?"

"No, making people see the truth in what I say. I tell a sappy story and before you know it people are convinced that what they're think is actually their own idea, and not mine."

"So you are good at manipulation?" Belmovekk asked.

"You can say that."

"Why would one of these Powers go to all these lengths to introduce Angel to Buffy?" Belmovekk asked detached.

"Because they're scared of her," Whistler said, "And I mean really scared. Shitless."

"And why is that?"

"Because they had no hand in selecting her," Whistler said, "I mean it's not like they decide which girl becomes the Slayer exactly, but they do have some influence over which group of girl gets fucked over. Her selection came as a shock to them. She wasn't planned."

"I see," Belmovekk said with mild interest.

"It's happened before," Whistler continued, "And usually that spells trouble. The last time it happened the girl actually turned against their Council lackeys and came close to destroying the Council."

"So they did not like her, what good would introducing Angel do for them?"

"These Powers think long term," Whistler said, "And plans within plans. According to their plans she was going to die fighting the Master, who would then open the Hellmouth. But since she wasn't their choice they figured something might derail that as well. So this Power thought it would be a hoot making the Slayer and Angel fall in love together. Cause he has this pesky curse. The moment he experiences happiness…."

"Yeah, I know," Belmovekk said, "So they set her up to go down fighting against her true love?"

"Yeah," Whistler said, "Can I have some water?"

The sound of water being poured, then a tattooed arm entered the picture and a glass of water with a straw was being held in front of Whistler, who drank eagerly.

"Thanks," Whistler sighed after he was finished.

"You are welcome," Belmovekk's voice said, "Continue, now to your second appearance."

"Well, after your little scheme with Angelus fell through and Buffy distrusted you, the Powers figured this an opportunity too good to miss. So they sent me to have a chat with her and convince her not to trust you. That it was all your fault that she was in this sorry mess. Naturally I worked my charm on her. I didn't have to use much though as you did manage to create a giant fuck up, no offense."

"None taken," Belmovekk's voice replied, "So what were the Powers up to in this case?"

"Well, they hoped that Angelus would kill her, awaken Acathla and do some nasty shit to the world. But at the very least they would settle for creating some serious discord between you two."

The footage ended there. Upon which everybody was silent.

"Dude, how can you live with yourself?" Yamcha said accusingly, the first to speak up.

"How can you live with yourself knowing you did not do _everything_ that you could have done?" Belmovekk rebounded, then a picture of Adam appeared behind him, "We know that Adam's little rebellion was inspired by what he called 'Others'. That they wanted him to kill Faith. A twin attempt by the Powers That Be to kill both Slayers. Both in space and on Earth. A most elaborate attempt indeed."

New footage was being played, this time of the standoff with Cell in the SGC control room.

"And I keep telling you, we don't know where Android #18 is," Hammond's image said dead calm in black and white with a time code running underneath, "Belmovekk took her through the gate and only God knows where he is."

"What? No rendezvous coordinates?" Cell's image said incredulously, "No way of letting him know that its safe to return?"

"He only said he would be back in a couple of days," O'Neill's said as he stepped forward next to Hammond, "Hell, he thinks he has to stay away for a day because then a buddy of his would come along and grind you into fine dust. Does the name Goku ring a bell?"

Holo-Cell looked at holo-O'Neill for a moment, then holo-Cell looked away, staring to the large glass window that separated the control room from the gate room. Towards the Stargate itself.

"NO! THIS CANNOT BE!" holo-Cell roared in impotent rage as he raised his fists into air, "I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PERFECT, DAMMIT! PERFECT!"

Then the time code slowed down from normal time to almost nothing. And then it stopped altogether.

"We've examined this footage intensely these past days," Belmovekk said as the footage now jumped from to frame, then it seemed to shift as Cell was suddenly in a different position and the footage sped up again.

"As you can see something happened in there. He either moved with superfast speed, which is a possibility. Or something is missing. For a moment we thought super speed was the most likely cause. But it made no sense. Cell went from not knowing where we had taken Android #18 to knowing in advance where we were going to end up.

"So we examined the footage more closely and in the end resorted to certain magic spells that are now popular among techno-pagans. Who, as I am told, love movies and special effects but lack the money to get the same results as Hollywood does. But magic on the other can be cheap if you know what you're doing. We used a series of spells that are being used to analyze special effects movies to see what is being used in a scene. What is special effect, what isn't and how is it applied. We came upon an interesting 'special effect'."

The footage was being restarted to just before Cell's outburst of frustration.

"Does the name Goku ring a bell?" holo-O'Neill said. Holo-Cell looked at holo-O'Neill for a moment, then holo-Cell looked away, staring to the large glass window that separated the control room from the gate room. Towards the Stargate itself.

"NO! THIS CANNOT BE!" holo-Cell roared in impotent rage as he raised his fists into air, "I WAS SUP….."

A white flash could suddenly be seen and suddenly Cell began to glow. Then the footage stopped.

"What we have here, what we think happened here is that somebody used a time shift spell," Belmovekk said, "A very ingenious one where you give the illusion that time has stopped around you and everyone else who has been targeted by your spell."

"Of course that is not really the case. Time is not being stopped. In fact quite the opposite. Time is being sped up for those who have been targeted by the spell giving the illusion that their surroundings have frozen in time. This appears to be the case. Somebody sped up time for Cell, gave him the information he needed and then he gated to that location. And now that we knew what to look for we were able to apply further techno-pagan magic that allows you to see between frames, I give you the rest of what happened."

The footage began to move again, only this time the time code didn't move. It was still incredibly jumpy, like a movie that had most of its frames missing. But a massive demon, almost as large as Cell and heavily plated in armor and sharp spiked protrusions coming from his shoulders and head entered the picture, could then be seen talking to Cell, then he disappeared again and Cell moved to the Stargate dialing console. Then another flash and the time code ran again.

"What the hell is that?" O'Neill said as an image then appeared from the strange demon.

"Arguably he's the one who told Cell to go where to look," Daniel said.

"Doctor Jackson is correct," Belmovekk said, "There can be no other explanation as I doubt a demon capable of time shifting magic would drop in just to wish Cell good luck. The most likely culprits would have to be the Powers That Be, who wish the Earth to be destroyed and consider Cell to be their best bet in accomplishing this. After all, they have a history of using minor demons to do 'errand work'."

The image disappeared and Belmovekk turned towards his audience.

"We are in the sadistic hands of manipulative powers who like to play dice with our lives. They have manipulated the Slayers in the past, present and continue to try to manipulate them. And not just Slayers only, but all of us. And in that respect even Cell is just their latest toy, most likely the result of yet another one of their manipulations. I have no doubt that after we defeat him, somebody else will come along who will make Cell look like peanuts, the Goa'uld like ants, Adam a mere toy."

"I am not going to allow this to happen. Not only will we stop this Cell, after that we must go after the very source itself. The Powers That Be. Only once they have been destroyed will our destinies be our own again. Little girls need not to go out to die alone in the dark for their amusement. Mankind should be able to go to the stars and not face one homicidal race after the other. And we should be able to rest, finally knowing that some insane uber bad guy is no longer waiting along the corner. I know my destiny now!"

"To be the universe biggest monkey wrench," Xander shouted, causing some laughter.

"Shall we all hug and sing kumbaya," O'Neill said as he stood up and looked around, "won't they know that we've just declared war on them?"

Maybe not, sir," Major Carter said, "I think this is why he wanted us to go inside this place. All this talk of protective wards is to keep them from listening in."

"Well a lot of crucial people getting together in a place that they can't see or listen in too should draw their attention," O'Neill huffed, "If I were them I'd strike this building right now with the biggest MOAB I could get my hands on. No, fuck that, nuclear weapons! Launched from orbit!"

"They cannot directly touch us," Belmovekk said, "That would draw in the Ancients or Aldur forbid the Ori. They can only manipulate us. Try and find somebody strong enough to do the dirty work for them. Its easy for them to manipulate the evil ones. They always think they are the pinnacle of creation. Christianity was right in dubbing pride on of the great sins. We're harder to manipulate. The lies have to be bigger, at the same time more subtle, the schemes have to be more intricate. But in the end they can only make us do something if we allow them to."

"So they're now the reason you behaved like an ass for so long?" Mayan called out, "If I were you I'd stick with that story."

x

* * *

x

"I guess that went well."

As she sat down on the couch in her mother's living room, Buffy closed her eyes.

"So I take it it didn't go well?" Joyce asked from the kitchen.

"Oh, it went down more then well," Buffy sighed, "It's not every day that everybody gets to see in holographic Technicolor that your stepfather tortures people."

"Oh, did he show that?" Joyce said surprised from the kitchen.

"Mom, if I tell you that Belmo just showed everybody his personal snuff movies, at least have the decency to act surprised," Buffy sighed again.

"I'm sorry, honey," Joyce said sounding not really sorry at all, "He's told me everything. Even the stuff you prefer not to know. You know he'll go to any length to protect us."

"Yeah, but seeing is believing," Buffy countered, "Especially in 3D. Without those awkward goggles."

"I suppose it would," Joyce called from the kitchen, "So how did it go?"

"I think they were, um, summarily impressed?" Buffy said, "I think they now look at Vegeta at a wholly different light. Oh, and expect less Christmas invitations this year."

Buffy stopped talking for a moment, then she looked away, outside through the window.

"He knew," she said softly.

"Who did?" Joyce's voice asked.

"Xander," Buffy said flatly, "He knew. He didn't even flinch when Belmo showed everyone his snuff movie."

"I'm not surprised," Joyce said, "While you're busy with Riley he and Belmo had a lot of meetings at Giles'."

"The combined chiefs of staff of Buffy," Buffy said as she leaned back, "jay me!"

"Why are you so… ungrateful?" Joyce asked, "You have all these guys willing to do whatever you want for you."

"I….," Buffy tried to say, then she gave up and put her hands on her face, rubbing her eyes, "I dunno. Maybe it's these stupid Cell Games tomorrow. Impending apocalypses brings out brooding Buffy. Don't feed the troll."

"All the more reason to spend our last evening together as a family," Joyce called from the kitchen, "And friends of course. They're all coming."

"Oh God," Buffy said as she facepalmed herself, "Please don't tell me that Xander's going to bring Porno Saiyan along with. I can't do her. Not now."

"If you're referring to Angela she's not coming," Joyce's voice said chiding.

"Pfff," Buffy sighed relieved, "Thank god for small favors."

Then her relief faded away.

"Is, uh, Riley coming?"

"Buffy, he's your boyfriend," Joyce stated matter of fact, "Of course he's invited. Why do you even ask?"

"Yeah, uh, about that," Buffy said hesitantly, "Funny thing happened today with Riley when he came out of The Room. He kinda….., um…, proposed to me?"

That was enough to bring Joyce out of the kitchen.

"What did you just say there?"


	32. Interlude 'All Alone in the Night'

**Interlude:**

' **All Alone in the Night'**

x

x

AN: _The final interlude, as my take on the alternative future is now complete. All you interlude haters can now rest assured._

x

x

A-Day+14 years, 3 months, 18 days, somewhere, sometime

x

From the diary of Bulma Briefs.

 _It's been a year now since Gohan went out to fight the androids and blew himself up in the process._

 _And what a year it has been._

 _So far there has been no sign whatsoever of the androids. Not a single attack has happened. At least no attacks that can be attributed to the androids that is. Trunks and Mayan have scoured the New Cloverfield crater for signs, any signs that the androids have been destroyed. Trunks in particular goes back once a week to look for anything that he's missed._

 _Anything to prove that Gohan's sacrifice meant something I guess._

 _Trunks in particular still misses Gohan terribly. He kind of regarded him as his surrogate father. Oddly enough, now that Gohan's gone Trunks keeps asking me things about Vegeta. Again that father figure thing. I try to do my best and tell him the truth. That Vegeta had been a monster who had done terrible things, and wasn't always kind to me either._

 _But then I find that I don't always have the heart to tell him the complete truth either. He's just so desperate to have a father and now that Gohan's gone I can't bring myself to tell him the worst things about his own father._

 _Oddly enough I find myself forgetting those worst excesses as well. It's true what they say. Time really does color your memories and makes you remember the good times better then it does the bad times._

 _Mayan's doing okay though, be it differently. If Trunks seems desperate to find pieces of the androids near his crater, she scours the globe trying to find out if any of the rumors of possible android sightings are true. And there are still an awful lot of rumors going about. Which is not surprising. After more then thirteen years humanity has been brutalized into almost non-existence. These emotional scars will probably take a lifetime to heal._

 _Whether the androids are still alive or not, humanity has been given a breather, a chance to recover. And unfortunately, while I wish that I could say that humanity was taking advantage of this chance, it doesn't really seem to be._

 _While lines of communications have been steadily re-opening, they also bring us constant reports of all the bad things humanity has to offer. While for thirteen years humanity has done its best to survive, now it returns to its old habits again. Wars over land and resources are taking place again, as does slavery._

 _The Army is doing its best to keep a lid on things, but it's far from the single unified institution that it used to be. When it decentralized itself in order to keep functioning into the divisional district system, it also meant that the commander in chief became nothing more then an impotent medieval king who sits in his castle while his feudal barons go to war with each other. So while the general of our own 40_ _th_ _divisional district is trying to keep everything from falling apart, in the former Midwest divisional districts are actually going to war with each other._

 _All the while that this is going on the Council has decided to take Jacky away from us. Because its not only humans who feel emboldened by the absence of the androids. Vampires and demons have also begun to break the de facto truce that existed between since the Fall. Angel has told me some of the rumors that reach the Council and they have me scared shitless. We just can't seem to get a break!_

 _So once Trunks teaches Jacky how to fly she will be transferred out and be sent to take out supernatural brushfires all over the place. Much to Mayan's relief I might add, who never liked the girl._

 _So on the one hand it has been a mixed bag. People trying to make the best of their lives again, having been given a second chance. And other people trying to make the best of their lives at the expense of others._

x

* * *

x

Throughout the Greater San Francisco Area people were busy. She was the world's only remaining city worth that name. Other cities had only survived in the sense that small groups of people had managed to survive going underground inside them. There were a some fairly large sized communities that had survived in that size by going completely underground, with old (and new) mine shafts being particular popular. Even more so when there were still minerals to be found.

In Katowice Poland, not far from Auschwitz, a small town of 3000 people had survived in the old salt mines underneath the now ruined city.

The Channel tunnel between what used to be Britain and France had harbored more then 10.000 people living underneath the English Channel.

Similar communities could be found all over the planet. Elsewhere different forms of camouflage had been used. In Brazil and Central-Africa the rainforest had proven popular to hide larger communities.

And there were of course rumors of large cities underneath the ocean.

There had always been rumors of these as soon as the cities got flattened. Just like there used to be stories of Atlantis, Shangri La, the Promised Land, the Land of Milk and Honey, the well of Eternal Youth, El Dorado and everything else that people believed was out there and worth getting killed for trying to find it.

Of course San Francisco was also such a place to many. And yet many San Franciscans, despite living in a city that had barely suffered at the hands of the androids, didn't put stock in it, forever believing that one day the day of reckoning would come and that they would have to pay the piper for having been spared during all those years.

Today did not feel as such a day though as the city was bustling with activity. The city's mayor was actively campaigning to have the city be declared the new capital of a new United States, calling for people across North America to come to San Francisco for a new constitutional convention. Be the New Founding Fathers as it were.

Meanwhile the factories were churning out goods for those living elsewhere, new businesses were being created. The city was firmly in the grip of a new kind of optimism. Elsewhere people may be fighting among themselves again, but not here. Not today.

And yet today was the day that San Francisco was going to pay the piper.

For today was the day that the androids did return.

And a massive explosion in the northern Oakland district signaled their return.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+13 years, 1 months, 18 days, somewhere, sometime

x

DOOM!

As the mother of all explosions happened androids #17 and #18 were practically at ground zero when it happened. And the only thing that came close was the Battle of the SGC, when some serious mega-tonnage had been dumped onto them. They had come close to destruction that day, but since they had combined their power into a single shield for them both and they were lucky to have had some distance to each detonation they had managed to pull through.

This time they weren't so lucky though.

Not only did Gohan trick them through his sacrifice, they were now infinitely closer to the heart of the explosion itself.

DOOM!

The noise of the explosion completely shut off Android #17's hearing, going into clip protection mode. Unlike human hearing it didn't suffer from prolonged hearing damage as the clip protection mode lifted itself once the total sound volume dropped below a specified decibel limit.

As Android #17 opened his eyes he saw that the world around his personal shield was still enveloped by fire. As he looked around however, no matter how hard he tried, there was no sign of #18.

For what seemed like an eternity, especially to an android running on a clock capable of being measured in milliseconds, the flames burned with an intensity of a sun. Then, slowly, they began to abate, until all that remained were a set of smaller fires burning all around him.

Satisfied that the worst was now over, Android #17 lowered his shield and began to look for Android #18.

"#18! #18!" Android #17 yelled as he frantically began to search for his lost sibling. But there seemed to be no sign of her close to ground zero, even though she had been closer to Gohan then he was.

It almost seemed like Gohan might actually have managed to achieve the impossible. Destroy one of them.

It couldn't be!

They were the two most magnificent, badass, indestructible, invincible and generally awesome fighting machines ever created. Created to take out Son Goku itself.

If the twat hadn't done the world a disfavor by dying prematurely.

There was no way anyone should be able to destroy either of them.

And yet Gohan seemed to have done it.

He was all alone now.

He had never been alone before. Not even in his life before Gero had retooled him, and which he didn't remember, he still intuitively knew that he had never been without #18.

He was about to give up and give in to despair when he saw something lying between some boulders.

"#18!" he yelled frantically as he began throwing large rocks away like they were small pebbles until finally he revealed what appeared to be the body of his fellow android.

But she was far from the android that he had known.

Both her legs and her left arm were completely torn off, as was her lower right arm, her head had sustained what appeared to be critical injuries to the left side of her face, missing an eye and an ear, also her neck appeared to be broken. These were all critical injuries in a human.

Of course Android #18 was no longer a human!

To the casual observer it would seem that she was dead. But Android #18 knew that having sustained that many critical injuries her brain probably had shut down into hibernation mode. The fact that so little blood had flowed from her wounds seemed to hint at that as well.

Android #17 removed more rocks until he had completely excavated her body. Then he picked her up, taking great care to not further damage her neck, then he took off.

Barely ten seconds after he had left Trunks and Mayan would arrive. Had he dallied more, or had the two flown faster history would have gone very differently, for both their reality, or the one they would later end up visiting.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+13 years, 5 months, 4 days, somewhere, sometime

Once the great plains of Mongolia had been home to the fabled nomadic horse shepherds and their horses. From here Genghis Khan had united the nomadic tribes and formed the basis of the largest known land empire in history.

But in the days of the android invasion the horses of Mongolia were no longer tended. Instead they now roamed wild and free as no one dared to be out in the open with such a large visible sign hinting that there could be humans present. In a few years the androids had accomplished what decades of communism never could, destroy the old ways of life completely.

As such Mongolia was now a deserted country.

And a perfect place for Android #17 to bring #18's remains too.

Long before, Gero, cursed be his name, had also thought so. In the mountains of western Mongolia the crazed scientist had first made his laboratory in the wake of the destruction of Red Ribbon army. Several of his new androids had been created here, and it was in this place that the mad man had begun to plot his revenge against Son Goku. He might have remained there if it weren't for the fall of communism and the subsequent breakup of the Soviet Union, the de-facto power in Mongolia. With the country now opening up to outsiders, particularly of the adventurous kind, the doctor decided to abandon this facility.

With his sibling almost destroyed Android #17 needed a Gero like facility and he needed it fast. The lab in Afghanistan however had been destroyed by them, then found by NATO troops after A-day and its remains thoroughly ransacked in a desperate attempt to learn anything about the deadly duo. But unlike in the reality that Trunks and Mayan would visit in this one Belmovekk had never found the Mongolian facility. Nor had the two androids ever learned of Gero's hidden Bali facility.

While he had feared being discovered in this place Gero had never completely abandoned his old Mongolian laboratory. While the place had been scoured of anything that could give away who had been here, computer hard discs erased, he did leave things intact as they had been in if he had to come back here in case of an emergency.

As he entered the laboratory all Android #17 had to do was turn on the generator and boot the systems up and the machinery came back to life. Including the very thing he had come here for in the first place. A fully functional auto-doc medical facility.

The auto-doc was a fully automated one man hospital that Gero had used to keep his frail failing body from falling apart while he worked on his revenge. Unfortunately its programming had been wiped clean, like any computer in this place, for the doctor was ever paranoid.

But even paranoids need access to software in case they had to leave somewhere else in a hurry. On a different mountain 30 miles away there was another cave and in it was a hidden vault containing all the software to run his old facility again. And being the beneficiary of that knowledge Android #17 had paid that vault a visit before coming here.

As he installed the software the labs machines became useful again and Android #17 placed #18 inside the auto-doc. Activating it the auto-doc began to run its diagnostic routine, thus allowing Android #17 to check the place for supplies. After all, the auto-doc couldn't restore lost limbs out of thin air, it needed certain nutrients and essentials.

The inventory check turned up a mixed blessing as fortunately Gero seemed to have taken into account that he might have to come back here while being injured. So there were plenty of medical supplies to restore android's #18's biological body. But the base was devoid of anything to build new replacements for her damaged or destroyed implants.

This was…, unfortunate?

Most unfortunate.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+13 years, 11 months, 13 days, somewhere, sometime

x

It was a strange thing indeed for Android #17 to be among humans and not see them flee from him in panic.

It was even weirder to need stuff from them and barter with them.

It couldn't be helped though. Now, almost six months after #18 had been all but destroyed, he needed whatever supplies he could gather from the humans. As luck had it the humans had used these past six months free from android attacks to get their shit back in order.

Some of them that is.

Without the threat of constant android attack some humans had resorted to open warfare with each other again. But not in this place. In the ruins of this former industrial city in Eastern China people had resorted to peaceful trade and barter instead. In no small part brought about because the former Peoples Liberation Army still had a strong presence in the area.

As it turned out some of the city's factories were still intact, or they had kept it going these past 13 years in a hidden capacity as part of the underground economy. Whatever it was, they were still producing stuff, probably those accursed radar detectors designed by that Capsule Corp. bitch. And it was stuff that Android #17 needed to restore his sibling. The only other place on Earth that probably offered anything similar was San Francisco. And he wasn't ready to go there yet. Not alone that is. Even if he had changed his appearance.

Aside from being able to heal near fatal injuries the auto-doc could also act as a plastic surgeon. So Android #17 had used it to change his looks, multiple times now, to not only avoid being recognized as Android #17, but also to better blend in. In this case to look like a Han Chinese and not some suspicious foreigner. Cause in the end he also needed to earn people's trust. It had taken him two weeks to learn where he needed to go to get what he wanted.

As he walked through the market square Android #17 made for a small tavern at the market's edge. Like always, shady dealings always seemed to take place in shady bars and today was going to be no exception.

As he stepped inside some of the patrons looked at him, then they returned their attention to whatever it was they were doing. Apparently they didn't consider him a threat. Which was just how he had designed his face to be. To be as non-threatening as possible. A bit stupid looking in fact.

Android #17 walked through the establishment until he was at a table in the back, where three men were sitting nursing some drinks. As soon as he neared the table one of the men, a big sturdy fellow, stood up.

"Get lost!" he said in no uncertain terms.

"I'm looking for Chang Li," Android #17 said, trying his best to contain his murderous impulses. He hadn't killed for over six months now and he was spoiling to have a go. Preferably at the oversized troll in front of him.

Unfortunately he needed the help of these human pieces of filth. Because until #18 had been restored he wasn't going to give away his and her continued existence to the world and those do-gooders from San Francisco.

"No Chang Li here," the muscle man said.

"But I have money," Android #17 protested. Causing the three men and some others who had overheard them to laugh.

"Money no good," one of the men at the table laughed, "PLA dollar just paper. Paper worth nothing."

"I got San Francisco dollars," Android #17 said deadpan. That caused the laughter to stop.

"You got San Francisco dollars?" the guy at the table said surprised, then his face turned suspicious, "You lie."

In response Android #17 pulled a small bundle of printed money and threw it on the table. Federal Bank of San Francisco printed clearly visible on them. The suspicious guy picked them up and examined them, pulling out a crumbled dollar bill that he held up next to them to see if they matched.

"These real, boss," he said impressed to the man next to him.

"I can see that, you moron," the man said, who then looked up at Android #17, "Where did you get these?"

"The where is not important," Android #17 said, "What's important is what I want in exchange for them."

The man looked briefly at his henchman still holding the money, then at the big still standing, before looking at Android #17 again.

"And what prevents me from killing you now so I can keep this money?" he asked. In response Android #17 pushed past the big guy and sat down in his place.

"Because I offer the promise of more?" he said in earnest.

The three men looked at each other, then they looked at Android #17.

"What do you want?" the guy in charge asked, to which Android #17 pulled out a list and handed it over.

"Some of that would be nice."

The guy in charge, presumably Chang Li, read over the list, then he looked at Android #17.

"You kidding me," Chang Li said incredulously, "These hard to get. From PLA factory. Very hard to get. Very technical, very expensive."

Android #17 pulled out another bundle of cash and threw it on the table.

"There is still more," he said as Cheng Li's lieutenant took the money, "Get me what I need and you will be well rewarded."

x

* * *

x

A-Day+14 years, 2 months, 24 days, somewhere, sometime

x

As she opened her eyes vision returned to Android #18.

But instead of seeing that asshole Gohan standing not that far from her somewhere in Northern California, she looked up towards the roof of a cave very similar to the last time when she had awoken.

Gero?

Could it be?

"NOOOOO!" Android #18 yelled in panic, then to further her horror she felt unable to move. As she yelled she then felt two hands take hold of her. Then someone appeared over her field of vision.

It was a strange face.

"NOOOOOO!" she freaked out again.

"Relax, #18, it's me, #17" Android #17 said as he tried to calm his screaming sibling down. Even though he had disconnected her bodily functions from the neck down she still managed to trash around with her head. Her freakout lasting for several minutes before the blind panic in her eyes dulled and she recognized her sibling.

"#17?" she asked, fear still in her eyes, "What happened to your face? Gero? Did he…? How?"

"No #18, Gero did not catch us again," Android #17 said calmly, then he pointed to his face, "This is just plastic surgery. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I…., I don't know," Android #18 said as a million things raced through her mind, "I can't re…. why can't I move? And ….. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

As she panicked again Android #17 did his best to stop her from hurting herself until her panic attack stopped. Which it eventually did.

"Calm now?" #17 asked with a sly smile.

"I'm calm now," Android #18 replied panting, "I just happened to be pissed at being unable to move."

"Fair enough," #17 replied, "Do you remember Gohan?"

"Of course I remember that piece of shit," #18 huffed.

"Do you remember the last thing that happened?" #17 asked.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I REMEMBER ANYTHING?" #18 yelled, growing agitated again.

"Then I guess there's still something wrong with your central data processor," #17 said and leaned over and disappeared out of #18's field of vision.

"What are you doing?" she asked worried.

"Playing doctor," #17 replied, then he reappeared and smiled, "and not the kind we probably used to play when we were kids."

Then he disappeared from view again. For a minute nothing happened, then something clicked inside her brain.

And then the memories came flooding back.

And then, even worse, came the internal diagnostic report telling her how much critical damage she had sustained.

And still had.

Then she began to scream again.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+14 years, 4 months, 15 days, somewhere, sometime

x

As he returned to the cave, carrying more purchased supplies courtesy of a certain Chang Li, Android #17 saw his sibling sitting with her back towards him.

"It's not wise to let your guard down like that, #18," Android #17 said as he closed the door behind him.

"And let them do what?" Android #18 scoffed without looking at Android #18, "Kill me? They're welcome. I'm hideous."

Great! She's back on the self pity wagon, Android #17 thought as he put down the supplies. Now she'll be insufferable again. Women!

Walking past the bench #18 was sitting on Android #17 saw why she was depressed again. She had opened the bandages on her waist again and had torn open her wounds again.

"I told you a million times, stop doing that, #18," he said in an annoyed tone of voice, then he reached for her bandages.

"Leave them!" she said angry, "If I can't be fixed, what's the fucking point!"

"Boy, aren't we a sour puss today," Android #17 said chiding

Her one eye glared angrily as she stared at him, the other one just an empty eye socket.

"I don't see half of your innards still hanging out!" Android #18 jeered.

"We talked about this, #18," Android #17 said, "until I can fix the last of your implants your wounds have to stay open."

The auto-doc had healed her critical injuries, but was unable to repair her cyborg parts. That was left to #17. And for that he needed access to her innards.

Not for the last time Android #17 rued the wisdom of Doctor Gero to go for a female android. After all, all the other ones had been male. A male android wouldn't obsess and go crazy over her looks all the time.

"It's not so bad," Android #17 said, trying to sound comforting, "I got the last of the supplies. That means I can finally finish the repairs. I'll have you up and killing in no time."

"Yeah right!" #18 snorted incredulously as she peeked into her belly.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+14 years, 4 months, 25 days, somewhere, sometime

x

As the door of the auto-doc opened the sterile lights of Gero's former laboratory greeted Android #18's eyes. Eyes in plural that was. She had stereoscopic vision again.

Next thing her sibling, Android #17 came into view. He had his normal face again. Be it with a lot of tiny scars from the constant plastic surgery he had performed on himself.

"How do I look?" her voice croaked, having not been used for all those days she had spent in the auto-doc.

To her surprise (and horror) Android #17 didn't immediately reply but waited 1.2356th of a second before responding. She also didn't like how his face showed signs of hesitation.

"It's, um, as good as new," Android #17 nodded a little too enthusiastically for comfort. Causing her to glare at him wearily.

"Why are you hesitating?" She said accusingly, then she stretched forth her arm, "A mirror! Give me a mirror!"

"I have a better idea," #17 said hurriedly as he pressed a button on the auto-doc control, "How about we give you some extra time shall we?"

"#17, what are you up to?" Android #18 yelled as the door of the auto-doc began to close again.

"It's okay, #18," #17 smiled, "everything will be alright."

Android #18 tried to protest but the anesthetic mist began to envelop her. And then the world turned to black again.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+14 years, 4 months, 30 days, somewhere, sometime

x

The doors of the auto-doc re-opened again and again Android #18 found the face of Android #17 waiting for her. Again she saw his worried face.

"A mirror!" she yelled, "Give me a bloody mirror!"

"I don't know," #17 said tentatively, "I think maybe another session might be in or…."

"GIVE ME A BLOODY MIRROR!" #18 yelled as her energy exploded around her, tearing the auto-doc apart.

As the bits and pieces fell all around him, Android #17 slowly shook his head.

"That wasn't very smart now, was it, #18?" he said disapproving, "You do realize that was the only auto-doc left in this world."

"I don't care," a naked #18 said as she stood up from what used to be the auto-doc, "Now give me a bloody mirror!"

"There's one in the bathroom," #17 said pointing over his shoulder.

"Finally!" Android #18 muttered softly as she walked past her sibling, who then began to tag along.

As she entered Gero's little bathroom she turned on the light and looked into the mirror. Immediately she recoiled and then glared at #17 in a mixture of both horror and anger.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" she said aghast.

"Told you it wasn't a good idea to destroy the auto-doc," #17 shrugged.

"I'm fucking hideous," #18 said as she looked back in the mirror and touched the scars on her face. The scars around her new eye in particular looked like she could tear them open and rip her new eye out. In fact she was tempted to do so.

She then began to examine the rest of her body and could trace a myriad of scars where her body had been damaged.

"I'm hideous," #18 said saddened as she griped the sink with both hands and looked downcast, "I'm a horrible freak."

"For what it's worth, you still look better then the last time," Android #17 said as he put his hand on her shoulder, "the auto-doc, it's just not that good. Gero…. You remember how he came out the last time, right? It had fixed him up, but not restored him the way he was completely. And even I have scars from the plastic surgery it did on me. See?"

#17 pointed to various small lines and scars on his face.

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Android #18 growled as she slowly looked at #17.

"I guess not," Android #17 nodded slowly. Then for a while Android #18 said nothing.

"We're going to make them pay," she then hissed.

"Yes," Android #17 quickly echoed, "We're going to resume our original plan again."

"No," Android #18 said ardently, "No more games. No more plan. This planet will burn. Gohan thought he could do this to me so he could save his precious loved ones. Now they're gonna die first. San Francisco will burn until there is nothing left!"

x

* * *

x

A-Day+14 years, 5 months, 12 days, somewhere, sometime

x

DOOM!

The massive explosion in Northern Oakland was soon followed by three more in Freemont, Paolo Alto and Dale City. An eerie silence then set in, followed by a sound not heard in a long time.

The Android Alert.

A series of smaller explosions soon followed, again all around the Bay area. At the center of which were two dots floating above the Bay itself.

"Yeah, baby, burn!" Android #18 yelled with visible glee.

Behind her floated Android #17 and he showed less excitement.

Sure, he loved dealing out death and destruction again, even on a massive scale again. It was something he had missed this passed year.

But there was also the realization that once this was over, there wasn't going to be another major city left to burn. The human rats would scatter and scurry back for shelter. San Francisco had always been that tasty morsel from a meal that you saved until last. Eat it up front and all you had left was the regular meal.

It was even worse because #18 couldn't care less what she was destroying, as long as she could destroy something. She had always wanted to destroy humanity with more fervor then he had, but at least she adhered to the Plan, the Great Game. Now all she cared for was the utter annihilation of the human race with a malice not seen before. She destroyed San Francisco because it was the home of Gohan, because it was the biggest human community out there and because San Francisco had become a symbol, the last recognizable human city left on the planet. And the news of the city's destruction would hurt the rest of humanity even more then just any other of their attacks. And while there was a certain pleasing satisfaction in that that he could recognize, there was still the undeniable fact that once the city was gone, it was really gone. And all that would be left was one big rat hunt.

As the city burned around them, Android #18 stopped for a moment to take stock.

"I haven't caused this much death in a very long time," she said.

"Well, was it everything you hoped for?" Android #17 asked calmly, "Has it eased your, um, pain?"

"No," she said after a long pause, "Not for as long a single human still lives will my pain lessen."

"I see," Android #17 sighed, "Maybe because it's too easy? Maybe because you're no longer being challenged? Maybe because you miss the Great….."

Android #18 spun around and glared angrily at #17.

"You mention the word game one more time and so help me I will tear you apart, brother, in so many pieces there won't be an auto-doc left in the world to put you together again!" she hissed at him.

Maybe because you destroyed the last one on the planet was what Android #17 wanted to say. But as he looked into her glaring eyes he decided not to.

She had never turned against him. Never in all those years even when she had sometimes vehemently disagreed with him. Called the Great Game childish and said they should have finished the job years ago.

But this was a different #18 then the one he had known. And these past days had proven that to him more and more. This #18 wouldn't take shit from anyone ever again.

Not even from him.

If he still had that auto-doc #17 would have put her back into it and run a check on her primary processors just to be sure that she wasn't damaged there as well. But alas, that was no longer an option. So he backed down instead.

Then something strange happened.

Before he could say anything a small ball of energy was launched into the air. But instead of coming towards them it climbed high into the evening sky until it disappeared into the upper atmosphere.

Even #18, gripped in her rage, had seen and the both of them followed the ball's ascent.

"What the fuck is that?" she said in a mixture of both anger and surprise.

"I don't know," Android #17 replied bewildered, "Something's wrong."

"I agree," #18 said. Good, even when she was angry she still had some common sense left. And common sense dictated that when something new and unexpected happened, somebody was up to something.

Then two dots appeared, coming in low from the south across the Bay, surrounded by white flames of chi.

"Oh look, #17," Android #18 said jeering as she recognized who they were, "it's the kids. They've finally decided to come out and play."

Android #17 folded his arms across his chest as he waited for Trunks and Mayan to arrive. This might turn out to be a fun day after all.

The kids arrived in no time at all, then they slowed down and came to a dead stop more then ten meters from them.

For a moment neither one of them said anything, with #18 glaring angrily at them and the two staring back with great resolve.

"So," Android #17 finally said in calm and slightly condescending voice, "No speeches? I had at least expected some words of defiance."

"I knew you two weren't destroyed," Trunks replied, "I just knew it."

"Guess you didn't look hard enough then," #17 smiled back, "Maybe you should have…."

"Oh for god sakes," Android #18 sighed, then she aimed her hand at the two and fired of a massive blast.

THOOM!

"#18, what the hell?" Android #17 said aghast, "Why?"

"Because they were Gohan's!" #18 said back, "Gohan ruined me, so I ruining whatever he cared about!"

Android #17 wanted to say something when he heard a nice. The noise of crickets chirping. There were no crickets in the San Francisco Bay. That could only mean one thing….

As the clouds from the explosion dissipated something became visible again.

Something shimmery and golden.

Super Saiyan Trunks.

"I didn't know he could do that," #17 said at #18, "Did you?"

"How the hell should I know," #18 snarled back, "I was out for most of it!"

"This changes everything," #17 said cautiously, "Maybe we should…."

"Fuck this!" Android #18 yelled, then she threw herself at Trunks and the two of them began to fight.

That left only #17 with Mayan.

"So, little girl," he said, "Can you transform into a Super Saiyan too?"

"No," she said calmly. Causing #17 to grin.

"Then I guess you're up shit creek then," he said as he unfolded his arms.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she grinned back, then she threw one of her arms into the air, as if she was trying to grab something. Then she closed her fist.

And suddenly the San Francisco Bay Area was lit up by the light of a artificial full moon.

"Nice girl!" Android #17 then said in a mixture of both horror and approval as she changed in front of him.

x

* * *

x

The Capsule Corp. facilities had been hit by the android barrage and many workers had been killed. But while Bulma coordinated the rescue efforts and fire fighting teams, Jacky wasn't there with her. She had bigger fish to fry.

The androids had returned!

Standing on the roof of the largest building still standing in the Capsule Corp. grounds Jacky kept an eye on the bigger picture. For out over the Bay Trunks and Mayan were both battling the androids. And with the outcome of that battle rested the fate of San Francisco. And humanity for that matter.

In a way Jacky was glad that the androids had returned. She didn't relish the Council taking her away from this place, her home really. Plus she didn't relish the thought of being separated from Trunks either. Her teacher, the one she loved. Even if though she still knew they could never be together, which did hurt, the thought of being away from him hurt even more.

She would have loved to have fought alongside him against the androids, and not just out of some adolescent fantasy, but also because she had her own bones to pick with those two bastards. Hell, if it meant having a go at the androids she would have gladly volunteered to fight along Mayan as well. And she couldn't stand the bitch.

DOOM!

A loud explosion came from the Bay, with a shockwave almost blowing Jacky off the roof. But she quickly steadied herself with her chi as she watched on. It really was a magnificent sight to be seen. That mighty golden streak as Trunks fought the supreme Queen Bitch all over the bay. Hell, even seeing Mayan trounce around as a giant ape was a sight to be seen. And her mental control of that thing seemed to be holding up as well. Which was good cause the two androids were causing enough deadly damage on their own. Let alone adding a rampant Ozaru to that mix.

THOOM!

The massive Ozaru belched up a fiery beam of death aimed at the Supreme Asshole King.

Boy, Jacky thought as she watched it happening, and she used to think that Mayan was already vicious enough in her human form.

x

* * *

x

Despite his Super Saiyan power up Trunks now understand why Gohan had always been so frustrated fighting these androids. As he fought Android #18 he could keep up with her, but never get the leg up to defeat her. And since he was tiring and she wasn't it was only a matter of time before time ran out on him. What the hell was he supposed to do? He hoped that Mayan was doing better then he was.

The answer came in the form of an unconscious Ozaru falling from the sky not that far from them. Falling and falling until eventually she dropped into the Bay.

"MAYAN!" Trunks yelled, then he abandoned the fight with Android #18 and dove after his loved one.

Only to find Android #17 hanging just above her floating body, which was rapidly transforming back into her normal form.

"Close but no cigar," Android #17 said as he positioned himself between Trunks and Mayan.

"Get out of my way," Trunks hissed angrily at Android #17, "Or…."

"Or what?" Android #17 said contemptuously, then he lowered himself until his foot came down on Mayan's head and pushed it under water, "You can't beat us. You never could beat us. Hell, the only reason we kept you alive was so we could play a game with you. Well, my young friend, the Game is over, or as they say, game over!"

As he heard Android #17's word Trunks' vision turned to red, then he stretched out his arm towards the sky and shot beams of lightning all over the place.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Once he had vented his anger, silence returned to the Bay Area.

"Don't beat yourself up," Android #17 said smug, "It was a good game while it lasted. And for the record, even though he failed Gohan did come close."

Android #17 held up two fingers just millimeters apart.

"So close. So damn close," Android #17 said softly, "But as the saying goes, close doesn't cut it. And you my young friend are still nothing like him. And we're not going to…."

"Let them go!" a new voice said.

It had come from behind Trunks. As he and Android #17 looked behind him they saw Android #18 there floating just above the water as well.

"Let them go," #18 said resolute.

"But #18, I don't understand?" Android #17 said surprised, "I thought you wanted them destroyed."

"What I want is revenge," #18 said as she stared down her brother, "And right now I want you to let them go."

"But why?" #17 asked, "I thought you no longer wanted to play the Game."

"That's right brother," she said, "I'm tired of your stupid games. No more games."

Android #17 rolled his eyes for a moment, then he pulled his foot from Mayan's head and floated gently away.

"Honestly, #18, I don't get you at all any more," he said indignant. As he floated away Trunks grabbed Mayan and lifted her out of the waters of the Bay.

"Listen up, you sad excuse of a half breed," Android #18 said, "We're letting you live as a sign of how insignificant you two are. Gohan hurt me and he hurt me badly. Since you're only half the man he was we're not going to waste our time on your sad excuse of an existence. Know that from this day forth we will start to eradicate all humans. And since Gohan cared most about you two, you two will be the last to go. The last to die. Come to stop us and we will stomp you into the ground so you can limp back home to mommy. Stay here and be safe until there is nobody else left to kill. That is your punishment. To know that you have utterly failed. And that nothing you can do will _ever_ change that."

x

* * *

x

They were indeed being fed, fattened up for the slaughter.

Only the lambs weren't the people of San Francisco. No, it was much more perverse than that.

The lambs were, and always had been, Gohan, the Scoobies and then the children.

And the only reason the people of San Francisco had been spared was because they had been living here.

It had all just been a horrible game to these androids.

And like any game once it become too easy it became boring. So they had played the waiting game. Let Gohan escape, recover, then train again until he became enough of a challenge to make the game interesting again. Like a game of Civilization where you slaughter all the other civilizations early on, save one, then wait and wait until that civilization reached the industrial age.

Only to then smash it with your space age weaponry.

Cause after all, what fun was there in having space age weapons when there were no worthy enemies to use them on?

All that time Gohan had kept that knowledge to just himself and Bulma until he died. Let it fester inside him, eat away at his soul like a cancer until he could think of no other solution then to die. That's why he never wanted Trunks and Mayan to come along with him. And that's why the androids ripped his arm off in punishment.

But now there was a new Game. One even more terrible. Cause apparently until now the androids weren't even trying. Now they were really going for the kill.

"There has to be something we can do," Angel said as he was pacing up and down Bulma's study room. Meanwhile Trunks was taking care of Mayan sitting on a couch while Jacky sat reversed on a chair, her arms resting on the back of said chair.

"We fight, what else is there to do?" Trunks said, sounding more desperate then hopeful, "Their arrogance will be their downfall."

"I don't know, Trunks," Mayan sighed, "I couldn't beat Android #17 just like you couldn't beat Android #18. It's like fighting a brick wall."

"I eat brick walls for breakfast," Trunks said scornfully.

"Not this one," Mayan said downcast, "There are some things that can't be done.

"I have a Saiyan appetite," Trunks countered, "I can eat anything."

Mayan didn't reply to that. Instead she sighed dejected.

"I think I now understand why Gohan killed himself," she sighed.

"There has to be something we can do," Angel said as he repeated himself, "Something, anything."

"Well, maybe Gohan was right," Jacky spoke up, causing everybody to look up to her.

"Don't say that!" Trunks said vehemently, "Don't ever say that again!"

"Well think about it," Jacky countered, "Disagree with what he did, but he did turn their little game upside down and as a result he gave us a year of peace. In that act alone he accomplished more then thirteen years of training ever did."

Trunks didn't reply, instead he let out a snort.

"What are you saying, Jacky," Bulma asked interested, "That my son should kill himself as well?"

She didn't mean that as she hoped that Jacky was onto something, something else.

"It's all about keeping the initiative," Jacky explained, "And for these past thirteen years that's what the androids had, the initiative. Gohan turned that around by doing something out of the box."

"Willow also tried to do something out of the box," Mayan countered, "Fat chance did that help her."

"Then maybe Gohan was more powerful then she was," Jacky said as she threw her arms up, "I don't know, I just a simple Slayer in a time that doesn't need them anymore. It needs something else. All I know is that it needs something that's out of the box and fast, before we all end up like Gohan."

Nobody said anything for a while. Then Bulma spoke up.

"She's right. With all respect for Gohan , we need something else. We need something like Goku," she said softly, "We need Goku."

"But he's dead," Mayan said, "He's been dead and buried long before the androids even arrived."

"What if he wasn't?" Bulma said, then she reached for her old laptop, "I think I may have an idea…."


	33. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter 18**

' **You and Whose Army'**

x

x

AN: _The endgame has finally arrived. Funny how it seems like yesterday that I started working on this story and yet its been more then a year ago. A busy year indeed in many ways._

x

* * *

x

A-Day+22, Camp X-Ray, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, C-hour minus 62 minutes

x

"What do you mean I can't go any further?"

Looking utterly stunned at the soldiers manning the roadblock Bruce Schnitzengruber had put on his 'What the fuck is this shit?' face. Normally, if this had been one of his movies this would have spelled the end for any unfortunate Mook that stood in his way.

Of course this was reality. And in the real world not even the US military would stand aside just because Bruce Schnitzengruber looked displeased.

"I was personally told by the under-secretary of defense that I had full clearance to go to the Cell Games," Bruce said indignant, "He personally put me on the plane to here. And General Austin in Kabul personally signed my travel permits."

"That may be so," the sergeant said unimpressed, "But I'm under strict orders not to let anyone in that valley. And until I hear otherwise that includes everybody, including Bruce fuckin' Schnitzengruber!"

"I demand that you let me speak to General Austin!" Bruce raged pointing to the Humvee behind the sergeant and its radio antenna.

The sergeant glanced briefly at the Humvee, then at Bruce, then he let out a snort.

"That's for military communications," the sergeant said shaking his head, "I'm not authorized to let civilians use them."

"Then I'm going to call him myself," Bruce said and reached for his cell phone, "I'll get him on the line and I'm personally going to make sure the only thing you'll be allowed to guard is a garbage barge on the Danube."

"You're welcome to try," the sergeant said unimpressed, "anything is better then this shit hole. But you'll find reception around these parts to be….., lacking?"

If looks could kill the sergeant would be dead right now. Unfortunately for Bruce he lacked that particular ability. So glaring one more time angrily he turned around and looked at his retinue of reporters and camera men.

"Are you seeing this, America?" he said angrily, "Are you seeing this, world? Suddenly the army does not want me to go to the Cell Games, even though they promised to give me every possible help."

It was only then that Bruce noticed that nobody was filming. Instead soldiers were busy confiscating cameras and recording equipment.

"What's going on here?" Bruce said flabbergasted as he faced the sergeant again.

"We have orders to confiscate the equipment of any reporters as well," the sergeant said, barely suppressing a smirk.

"But how are they going to report when I face off against Cell?" Bruce said shocked.

"Frankly, mister Schnitzengruber, that's not my concern," the sergeant said, then he pointed towards the road behind them leading back to the provincial capital Tarin Kowt, "This is a military zone and I hereby order you to leave. I suggest you go back the way you came from."

"This is an outrage!" Bruce yelled, his voice going up an octave.

"How do they say this so fittingly in your country?" the sergeant said as he pretended to think, "Oh yeah, befehl ist befehl."

Bruce raised his fist and shook it at the sergeant.

"I will have your head for this!"

"Just following orders, mister Schnitzengruber," the sergeant shrugged, "Oh, and by the way, your movies suck! Steven Seagall would kick your ass."

Bruce wanted to say something, then he turned around and walked away.

"Let's go," he said to the small army of reporters, "The army reneged on its promises."

Normally the reporters would have asked, no, shouted their questions at Bruce. But without any recording equipment what would have been the point? Only a few photographers still had cameras and they shot pictures of the forlorn movie star as he walked towards his car.

Having arrived at his car the movie star leaned forward and put his head against the roof, leaning on it in defeat. Closing his eyes Bruce sighed. He knew many people thought he was a joke. He knew many people thought he was doing this for the fame and attention to prop up what was starting to look like a failing movie career.

But when he had gone on the air Bruce hadn't done it for the fame, money or attention. He had invested his movie earnings wisely and had more then enough to live out his life in obscene comfort if he desired so. And he knew that while his movies weren't art, they were part of the nation's, no, the world's cultural psyche. Sure it would have been nice to add a few more one liners to his legacy, but if his movie career was over, his legacy would still be impressive. The biggest action hero of all time. And wasn't it better to stop altogether then to continue past your prime and slowly fade away?

But what Bruce truly wanted to do was to give something back to the world. And the country that had taken him into its heart and soul. He had come to the United States with nothing but his dreams and made them come true. He truly felt that a nation that had been so good for him deserved that he should risk his life for it so he could save it. And he firmly believed that he could save it. He couldn't tell why, he just did.

As around him one car after the other started their engines and drove off, Bruce remained with his car, lost in thoughts. Then without him realizing, a car stopped next to his.

"Bruce," a voice said, causing Bruce to finally look up.

It was the reporter from FOX NEWS and his news crew.

"I'm sorry, I let you down, I let the whole world down," Bruce said downcast.

"No, that's not it," the reporter said, then he winked conspiratorially, "Our driver is from this province. And he knows a secret way into that valley. And guess what, the Army missed our satellite uplink and backup camera. If you want we will take you to Cell."

In a heartbeat Bruce's mood changed and he started to grin.

"So it's an exclusive that you're after?"

x

* * *

x

At the Lookout a large group had assembled. And they all awaited the last person to arrive. As Goku's friends awaited his arrival each took advantage of this short eye of the storm moment to have a final moment of peace.

Looking around a corner Buffy saw her sister together with Trunks, enjoying an intense moment of privacy.

"They're smooching alright," she said as she allowed the couple a moment of privacy.

"Told you they would," Xander said with a big grin and held up his hand, "Pay up, Buff."

"Why did I even agree to that stupid bet?" Buffy muttered aggrieved as she pulled out a five dollar bill, "I should have known better."

"Of course you should, Buff," Xander said triumphantly, "After all, you would. And she's your sister."

"Bite me!" Buffy said snide, in response to which Xander kissed the five dollar bill.

"I just did," he grinned.

"I think it's sweet," Willow said.

"You'd think that if Buffy and Spike got together they would be sweet too," Xander countered, "You're a hopeless romantic."

"I'm not _that_ hopeless," Willow said as she briefly shuddered, "Some things are just too evil to even contemplate. Kill it with fire, it's the only way to be sure."

"Nuke it from orbit, even better," Xander smiled.

"Hey, I'd like to think that I've got better taste in men then Spike," Buffy protested, then she pointed towards Xander, "And no, Angel doesn't count."

"Rats!" Xander said pretending to be disappointed.

"I'm surprised he's not here," Willow said.

"Who? Spike?" Xander asked, "I think I can stomach him not being around."

"No, Angel," Willow said, "You'd think that with the end of the world at stake he'd show up."

"And do what against Cell? Die horribly?" Xander huffed, "He's not exactly been keeping up with the rest of us."

"Well, neither has Riley and the soldiers," Willow protested, "And they're coming along."

"That's politics," Xander explained, "We're going to do the dying, they're coming along to grab the glory."

"Mr. Optimism's back," Buffy said dejected.

"Well, somebody has to take the credit," Xander shrugged, "Maybe in Sunnydale we could get away with murder in broad moonlight but in the world at large people tend to be a bit more observant. Better that Riley and his crack suicide squad take the glory then that we get the Congressional Medal of Honor live on CNN."

"I suppose," Buffy sighed, not really relishing being in the spotlight either.

"So?" Willow said sporting a big grin as she looked at Buffy.

"So what?" Buffy said back puzzled.

"You and Riley," Willow grinned with a big goofy grin, "Did you tell Belmo and your mother that you got engaged?"

"Oh God!" Xander moaned, "I can feel my IQ dropping just hearing about this stuff. I'm not going to be part of this conversation. I think I'll join Yamcha and help him insult Tien in regards to his manliness."

Not insulted whatsoever Willow continued smiling her goofy grin as Xander made for the others.

"So?" Willow grinned.

"I'm not going make you shut up about this, am I?" Buffy asked against her better judgment.

"Nope," Willow smiled from ear to ear, "And I got ways of making you talk, Buffy, magical ways."

"Aren't you breaking any magical rules doing that?" Buffy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Dozens, but who's to know?" Willow continued grinning.

"Fine," Buffy said rolling her eyes, "I told mom, but I didn't tell Belmo. Are you happy?"

"Why not?" Willow asked curious, then she understood, "You're afraid that he's going to tear Riley into pieces, aren't you?"

"Yes, uh, no," Buffy stammered, then she sighed, "I don't think so. He actually seems to like Riley. And Riley looks up to him."

"Maybe just a little too much," Willow said, "But if it's not the tearing apart thing, then why are you so worried?"

"It's complicated," Buffy sighed again and looked away.

"Uh, no?" Willow said shaking her head, "It's not. Just tell him."

"Will, we're off to fight the biggest Big Bad of our lifetime," Buffy said, "I don't think it's the right time to tell him right now."

"Okay, I understand," Willow said, then she put her hand on Buffy's shoulder, "Don't tell him, but remember this, Riley's really big into this honorable soldier stuff. He worships the ground Belmo walks over. If you're not going to tell him, he will eventually."

x

* * *

x

Finally Goku did arrive on the Lookout using his instant transmission technique.

"Finally," Piccolo said frowning, "What took you so long?"

Taking Piccolo's disapproval in stride Goku looked around.

"Vegeta's not around?"

"He went ahead," Piccolo shrugged.

"He's excited too," Goku grinned, then he noticed the others weren't, "Is something wrong? Why the long faces? Are you guys nervous?"

"Bad news," Krillin said and looked at a very downcast Dende, "We just learned that because Dende used the previous Dragon as a model, that means the Dragonballs can't bring people back from the dead who have already been brought back before. If we die, it's final."

"I'm sorry," Dende said apologetic, "If I had known of this weakness I would not have used this template."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Dende," Goku said upbeat, "We just have to make sure that we don't die."

"Were you cursed by some vengeance demon or something?" Xander said incredulously, "You seem to actually invite bad juju."

"N-not die?" Krillin said dumbfounded, "Th-this is Cell we're talking about."

"Come on," Goku said waving dismissively, "Let's get going. Or we won't make it there in time."

"Let's get it over with," Piccolo said looking first at Faith, then Gohan, "But let's do this old school. No fancy teleporting, just plain flying."

"I hear ya," Faith nodded, dressed in a new set of leather clothes.

"I kinda like Air Goku," Yamcha said slightly disappointed, "It's fast and reliable."

"It also makes you lazy," Tien said as he patted Yamcha on the shoulder, "Come, let's do it like we used to."

"Fine," Yamcha muttered, "but this still won't mean that I'll sleep with you."

"I'm not gay!" Tien said exasperated.

"Are you coming too?" Goku asked Belmovekk.

"We will join you once you are there," Belmovekk said, "I must discuss a few things with Commander Riley and his men."

"Suit yourself," Goku said and waved goodbye, "Let's go!"

And with that the Z-fighters took off.

"Are you coming?" Xander asked Buffy, "Surely we don't need Air Belmo to get there?"

"You go ahead if you want," Buffy said, glancing briefly at Belmovekk and Riley, "I'll join you later."

"Will do," Xander said, then he took off in a blaze of chi as well.

Now that the Z-fighters had left the remaining soldiers gathered around Riley, Jamison and Belmovekk.

"Normally we would say a few words," Riley said towards Belmovekk, "But since many of them are Belmovekk's Bastards we'd figure you should make the speech. Satiya!"

"You honor me greatly, Commander Finn," Belmovekk said and gave a slight bow, then he turned towards the assembled soldiers.

"I shall not call you men. Or soldiers. Today you will be neither. I shall not call you Americans, even though technically most of you are, whatever nation you are from though, today you shall be neither."

"More then a year many of you stood by me and my friends in our hour of need as we fought an evil warlock as he tried to become a true demon and destroy a town in the process. I asked them this as a personal favor and they all did. The fight was long and hard. And not everybody survived. But we prevailed and that town and its people were saved. And I know you all kept silent regarding certain events that happened that day and for that you have my eternal thanks."

"Today is a different day. And yet it is the same again as that fateful day, now more then a year ago. Again, innocent lives are at risk. And like that fateful day we find ourselves again as the only line of defense against the coming darkness. I will not lie, the danger is beyond comparison. Make no mistake, Cell will make the Battle of Sunnydale look like a picnic. His power is beyond any of our imagination."

"You're supposed to motivate them, not scare them away," Buffy whispered softly as she briefly stood beside Belmovekk. Undeterred Belmovekk continued.

"Today is the first day of the year one. This day will either be the end, or it will be a new beginning. You have all spent at least a year inside the Room of Spirit and Time. A few of you even two years. Today is the day of your rebirth. Today is the day you have joined a small elite band of warriors, who are not perfect, who have their flaws. But when the fate of the Earth is at stake they will rise to the occasion. Today is the day that you no longer are soldiers of the United States, Great Britain, Russia, or any other great country on this great planet. Today you have all become warriors of Earth."

"What we have taught you, you have sworn to only use to defend this planet. That time has come. No warrior of Earth however can be forced to rise to this occasion, can be forced to give up his life. You can only volunteer. Soon we go into battle. Many of you may not make it back alive. _I_ may not make it back alive. Such is the nature of fate. The Dragonballs may restore some of us back to life, except for those who have already died once, and who were restored after the Battle of Sunnydale. Those of you who have second thoughts and wish to leave, you may do so. I will not think any less of you. Cell is _that_ dangerous. You may do so now."

For a moment nothing happened as Belmovekk waited for any of the soldiers to come forth and leave. None did.

"Again, I shall not think any less of any of you who desires to leave," Belmovekk spoke again.

"You may not think so," Riley spoke up, "we may not think so either. But any man who leaves now still has to look at himself in the mirror and be able to look himself in the eye."

"He would still be alive," Belmovekk said.

"For better or worse, there is no safe place in the world today," Jamison spoke up, "Might as well all go down fighting Cell rather then be blown up with the rest of the planet."

Belmovekk looked at the soldiers, then he said nothing for a moment as he swallowed.

"I am proud to be fighting alongside you today, my friends," Belmovekk said, sounding slightly choked.

"There's one more thing," Riley said as he made a gesture and one of the soldiers brought forth a box which he gave to Belmovekk.

"What is this?" Belmovekk said as he accepted the box.

"We've noticed that each of you wears his own clothes when he goes into battle, Satiya," Riley said as Belmovekk opened the box, "Vegeta wears that Saiyan suit, Goku and the others have their orange gi, Piccolo has his own garb. We would be honored, Satiya, if you would go into battle with us in the same uniform that we all wear. As soldiers of Earth."

Belmovekk pulled out a desert tan uniform and desert tan army boots. There was no rank insignia, but the nametag read 'Belmovekk' and a single patch adorned the right shoulder, 'Belmovekk's Bastards'.

"Compliments of General Hammond," Riley said with a big goofy grin.

As he looked at the uniform Belmovekk was speechless and then he looked away.

"Now you've done it," Buffy said as she nudged Riley, "He's sprung a leak, you've broken him."

"I would be honored to wear this uniform into battle alongside you and the others, Commander Finn," Belmovekk said softly.

As Belmovekk walked away to change clothes Riley turned towards Buffy.

"So, did you tell him?" Riley asked, which caused Buffy to look awkward.

"Funny you should ask."

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, C-hour minus 20 minutes

x

The Marine snipers were still watching Cell. But not for long. As soon as C-hour approached they were ordered to relocate out of the valley. They were told that things might 'heat' up. So the sniper team was ready to move out, everything packed in but their gear.

"Echo Station to all forward teams," the radio spoke up, "report!"

"Echo Station, this is Echo One," another voice spoke over the radio.

"Echo Station, Echo Two here," one of the Marine snipers said into the radio.

"Echo Station, Echo Three reporting in," another voice said over the radio.

The two snipers looked at each other briefly.

"Echo Station to all forward teams, fall back to baseline delta."

The two snipers looked at each other again.

"Echo Two to Echo Station, will do," the spotter said. Then the sniper team began their carefully planned withdrawal from Cell's valley.

But as the sniper teams were busy trying to get away unseen they failed to notice that from the opposite side of the valley a beat up Suzuki van was entering the valley.

x

* * *

x

C-hour minus 16 minutes

x

The SGC was now the beating heart of gathering all intelligence on Cell. From here direct feeds went to the White House, the Pentagon and half a dozen other capitals in the world. For this very purpose the conference room had been turned into a giant high tech command, control and communications center, with screens and technicians everywhere, be it with one big screen at the heart of it from where they could focus on any of the data feeds from the other screens.

It was a high tech nightmare and a testimony of his technicians that even though they were still rebuilding from Cell's assault that they could built this. And that was excluding the fact that they had also brought the Stargate back online as well. Which was even now sending some of Earth's best and brightest to the Alpha Site in an ongoing evacuation.

Unfortunately, with all the thousands going through the Stargate there were a few he couldn't send, even though General Hammond was sorely tempted to shove them through. Namely Belmovekk's kids.

The Saiyan had dropped his offspring and their mother off here before going off to the Lookout. And while she was a very pleasant women, her kids were the offspring of Satan as far as the general was concerned. Now almost at age four to say that they were curious was stretching it. They drove his technicians crazy, having ruined at least half a dozen pieces of equipment before he had ordered Teal'c to keep them 'entertained'. And while he was sorry to degrade Teal'c from proud warrior to not so proud nanny, the mighty Jaffa took his degradation well. Probably in no small doubt helped by Hammond's promise to put him right on top of the waiting list for soldiers to go into the Room of Spirit and Time once this was over.

While Belmovekk's wife was sitting quietly on a chair in the room, looking at the big screen, one small corner of the conference room was anything but high tech. Old tech was more like it. Behind a table with huge stacks of old books and scrolls sat Rupert Giles and Daniel Jackson as they were studying old prophecies to find if they could reveal a clue. Any clue for that matter.

x

* * *

x

On board the Beliskner II, Thor, supreme commander of the Asgard fleet, sat in his command chair on the bridge and studied the information feeds he was getting from the SGC in addition to his own. And he was feeling anything but at ease. Here he was, supreme fleet commander and all he could bring to the table was a single battleship. For most other situation in this galaxy that would have been sufficient.

But not today.

Today Thor wished he had brought the whole of the Asgard fleet with him. Maybe then, just maybe, this would be over. Now the fate of this galaxy, and possibly many others, depended on a small group of people he knew next to nothing off. For whatever the Saiyan had told him, he was sure that he hadn't told him everything yet.

It was out of his hands now though. They had tested the Beliskner's main gun against the Saiyan and he not only had easily withstood it, he said he was one of the weakest of the group now!

Still, the scientist inside Thor reveled in what he was about to see and wished he had brought a science vessel along. The idea that you could increase your own body energy to put out insane amounts of energy was not something that the Asgard had explored until recently.

When Freeza had made inroads into this galaxy using his chi powered mercenaries, and thus circumventing the Protected Planets Treaty, the Asgard had been powerless to stop them. Not only was Freeza not signatory to the PPT, and the Asgard legally powerless to stop him, they didn't even knew how Freeza was actually doing it. And the one time they actually caught a few of his mercenaries they baffled the Asgard by not having any technology with them.

One way or another, today was going to be very interesting.

x

* * *

x

The car with Bruce and the FOX NEWS team were halfway the valley towards Cell when they were finally spotted by another observer team and a Predator drone zeroed its camera in on them.

"What is that?" General Hammond said as the Predator drone's feed was brought on the main screen.

"A beat up Suzuki four wheel drive?" O'Neill said deadpan.

"Not now," Hammond said annoyed with the colonel's usual flippancy, then he looked around, "Find out who that is!"

Within half a minute he got the answer.

"A FOX news team?" he said incredulously, "How the hell did they get there?"

"They must have circumvented the roadblocks," O'Neill said, then he turned to General Hammond, "Do we really want reporters telling the world live what's happening?"

"Sir," a technician said, holding up a phone, "It's the Secretary of Defense for you."

Hammond took the telephone and spoke briefly into it. Then he handed it back to the technician.

"What's the word, general?" O'Neill asked.

"The Secretary of Defense does not want a repeat of what happened the last time we engaged Cell live on television," Hammond said downcast, "We are ordered to terminate with extreme prejudice."

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan C-hour minus 12 minutes.

x

He was getting close now, so close.

Bruce could feel the excitement growing inside him. And it was a good excitement. The kind he had when he was still a professional wrestler. The kind when he read the script of a new movie and realized he had gold in his hands. This was the right thing. He was going to fulfill his destiny.

While his professional wrestling days had been long past him and his movie career still active Bruce had noticed the steady decline in both the quality of his movies and movie visitors. While he could probably squeeze out a few good ones, most scripts he received these days were nothing like the ones he had received in the past. Like when he first read Assassinator. His movie career was in a slow decline. He needed to do something.

So in order to prove to both himself and the world that he still mattered Bruce had stepped up his already impressive training to stay fit and gone all out, taking lessons in at least half a dozen martial arts. For he had a new goal in mind. Rekindle his movie career by rekindling his old fighting career. It was still a secret but he had planned to enter the new world of Ultimate Free Fighting and dominate it. Or at the very least make a very good impact. And in that way reignite his movie career. Audiences love a come back from behind story. A self made man reinventing himself.

That decision had been the right decision. He knew it with every fibre in his being. Just like it did right now.

He was soooo going to kick Cell's ass.

Sticking his upper torso out of the car window Bruce looked at Cell's platform in the distance and shouted.

"I'M COMING FOR YOU, CELL! DU SCHWEINHUND!"

x

* * *

x

High above the sky, almost unseen to the naked eye, a Predator drone flew over Cell's valley. While careful not to directly fly over Cell's position the drone, together with another, flew in an elliptical circle around him.

The drones were a marvel of unmanned aerial reconnaissance, essentially relegating the old manned photo reconnaissance aircraft to the dustbin, as they sent back life camera feeds with the ability to zoom in to their controllers via a state of the art camera array.

But a state of the art camera array wasn't the only thing the predator drone carried. Underneath each wing was a deadly Hellfire missile, with lock and forget capability. For as the Predators flew over Afghanistan looking for the enemy, once they did locate the enemy the limited number of friendly troops available meant that the enemy could not always be engaged. So, in case a juicy target of opportunity was encountered, the drones had been armed with Hellfire missiles to take them out.

And right now the Predator was being fed information that it directly transferred into one of its Hellfire missiles regarding a certain all terrain vehicle below.

x

* * *

x

"Is that Bruce?" Major Carter said as she zoomed in on the speeding car, with a man hanging half out of its window, "I thought they turned him back at the checkpoint?"

"He must be traveling with the news crew," O'Neill said as he examined the Predator feed.

"This changes everything," Sam said looking at O'Neill, "Now we're not dealing with just a bunch of reporters. We're dealing with Bruce as well."

"I'll call the SecDef," Hammond said.

x

* * *

x

"I'M COMING FOR YOU, CELL!" Bruce shouted again, before withdrawing in the car again. There he noticed that the camera man was already filming him.

"What?" he asked with a straight face, "It's true, right?"

x

* * *

x

"It doesn't matter if Bruce is onboard," Hammond said as he gave back the phone, "We are still ordered to terminate with extreme prejudice."

Sam and O'Neill looked at each other. Then O'Neill walked up to the console from where the Predator drone was being controlled and removed the see through cap guarding the fire button.

"This is odd," he said wistful, "I've seen all of his movies and for the life of it I can't think of an appropriate quote right now."

"Jack, this is wrong," Daniel said as he stormed up to O'Neill, "Don't do this, this is murder."

"I'm under orders, Daniel," O'Neill said, then he held up his free hand and pointed towards Daniel, "And don't go Godwin on me, Daniel. I'm not some fanatical German. I do this because I happen to think it's the right thing to do. We can't have the world panic because everything gets broadcasted live on television."

"It's still murder," Daniel said shaking his head.

"It's not murder when the chain of command says so," O'Neill said back.

"Now who's quoting Godwin's law here, Jack," Daniel said stony faced.

O'Neill's hand trembled slightly, then it steadied.

"You and I are going to have a long conversation when this is over, Daniel," he said, then he reached out towards the button.

"DON'T FIRE!" a new voice yelled frantically.

As everybody turned their heads it was Giles.

"Whatever you do, do not fire off that missile," Giles said as he ran up to Daniel and O'Neill.

"What? So you can lecture me about morality as well?" O'Neill said unimpressed.

"No," Giles said as he held up a piece of paper, an old computer printout to be exact, "Because you would be playing right into the hands of our 'Adversaries'."

"You're not making any sense, Doctor Giles," Hammond said as he entered the discussion.

"And it shall come to pass that on the day of reckoning the Children of Grey shall fight the Flesh Golem," Giles read from the print out, "Guard well Satan's Stone for he shall be instrumental in the coming of a new dawn."

"That's gibberish," O'Neill scoffed.

"It's the Gypsy Prophecies," Giles countered, "These were created by the Destinies to help guide us in this fight. This exact fight!"

"It's gibberish!" O'Neill scoffed again.

"Not necessarily, sir," Sam spoke up, "Satan's Stone could be a reference to the Devil's Rock, Bruce's old wrestling name. And Flesh Golem could be Cell."

"She's right, Jack," Daniel said vehemently, "Don't do this!"

O'Neill looked at Sam, then at Daniel, and then finally at General Hammond.

"What's the verdict, general," he said, his finger still above the firing button.

"Show me that prophecy," Hammond said towards Giles, who then showed him the relevant passage.

"The colonel's right," Hammond said as he looked up, "This _is_ gibberish. Only that single sentence makes any sense."

"That's how prophecies work, general," Giles said straight faced, "It is mostly gibberish. They're made that way to prevent those for whom they are not meant to read them. And this is meant for us. Right here, right now. Do not kill this so called Bruce fellow. Apparently we need him."

General Hammond thought long and hard about it.

"Sir," O'Neill said, "I hate to rush you but we're soon out of firing range and my arm's getting a bit cramped here."

"Stand down, colonel," Hammond said as he looked away.

No sooner had he done so when the phone range again.

"Sir, it's the Secretary of Defense for you again."

x

* * *

x

"This is a FOX NEWS exclusive!"

As the FOX NEWS logo faded away the news anchorman appeared.

"FOX NEWS is proud to bring you a world wide exclusive," the anchorman says, "We are going live over to FOX NEWS reporter Jeremy Smalls who is live in Afghanistan and inside the valley of the Cell Games with Earth's champion, Bruce Schnitzengruber. Jeremy, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, James," Jeremy said as the anchorman was replaced by a picture of a news reporter with glasses sitting up front in an all terrain vehicle being filmed from the backseat, "I am speaking to you all live from what US forces in Afghanistan call Cell's Valley. With me is Bruce Schnitzengruber."

The camera turned left and Bruce could be seen, changed into his old fighting gear, which still fit after all these years. Bruce said nothing but waved briefly at the camera.

"As you can see our hero is busy mentally preparing himself for the upcoming fight," the reporter said as the camera fixed on him again, then the reporter pointed ahead, "And there, dead ahead, is Cell."

The camera zoomed as best as it could while the car hobbled along the rocky terrain. But audiences could see a stone platform growing bigger, with on it a sole solitary figure.

"Are you the only journalists in the area, Jeremy," the FOX anchorman asked.

"Indeed we are, Ron," Jeremy said excited, "Apparently the US military deemed it too dangerous for both Bruce and the other reporters to enter Cell's Valley. Luckily our driver Hafid knew a back road in.

"Bruce is man!" the driver shouted excited as the camera briefly turned towards him, "Me like all his movies!"

"What can we say, Ron?" the reporter grinned as the camera turned back to him, "The man has fans everywhere."

x

* * *

x

"And?" O'Neill asked as Hammond put down the phone.

"What do you think?" Hammond said back, then he looked at the screen showing FOX NEWS.

"Well, on the plus side we'll get good close ups from now on?" O'Neill said deadpan.

x

* * *

x

As the car reached Cell's little tournament dais and halted Bruce was the first to get out. As he did a few stretching exercises to overcome the long car journey it gave time for the reporter and his camera team to leave the car and set up shop.

"I'm standing right next to the Cell Games ring, Ron," the reporter spoke into the camera, "As you can see we have arrived and Bruce is doing a few final warming up exercises. Meanwhile the monster seems unmoved, although from this reporter's point of view it looks like its keeping a close watch on our hero."

x

* * *

x

In Larry's bar in Sunnydale the whole clientele was glued to the big screen television. Demons, vampires and even a few humans were watching everything as the camera zoomed in on Cell.

"Oh, he's ugly," one demon said horrified.

"Like your mother," another demon said, causing laughter to erupt and the tension to break.

Meanwhile Spike sat at the bar counter nursing a beer. He had been left behind in this fight. In more ways then one because he also knew that the Big Scary had taken both Rupert and his wife and kids to safety, not even bothering about him. In a way that stung because it told him that they couldn't care less about him. And he hated not being invited to the mother of all brawls.

Then again if his earlier adventures in Sydney taught him anything it was that he was thoroughly outclassed. There was not a whole lot he could do except be a punching bag and from what he had gathered from the news he didn't exactly relish being Cell's punching bag. Cell was one dangerous SOB.

Still, it would have been nice just to have been invited. Be shown that they actually cared about him.

So he sat in Larry's bar nursing his beer. Figuring that if the world was going to end, and there was fuck all he could do about it, that he might as well get stinking roaringly pissed.

"Oh, that Bruce looks mighty impressive," Larry said not taking his eyes of the big screen TV. A very good investment he might add, bringing in the sports orientated demons.

"He looks like a pillock that's about to get his head ripped off," Spike muttered irritated.

"Don't talk like that," Larry protested, "Rumor has it that he's going to enter Ultimate Free Fighting."

"Pfff," Spike snorted, "Bunch of wankers! Wouldn't last ten seconds on the Circuit that is."

"You know about the Circuit?" Larry asked, to which Spike replied by downing his beer.

"I used to be El fucking Gringo Blanqueada," Spike said as he put down his beer bottle, I _owned_ the fucking Circuit."

"Now I _know_ you're messing with me," Larry said as he wearily eyed Spike, "There's no way you fought in the Circuit."

"Fine, don't believe me," Spike said and pointed towards his empty beer bottle, "Just bring me a new one and fawn over that idiot somewhere else."

x

* * *

x

"He's actually planning to enter the ring," the reporter said excited as Bruce stepped onto Cell's platform, "It really looks like he's going to take on Cell. He's incredible! A true hero of Earth!"

Having stepped into the ring Bruce pointed towards Cell, then he turned his fist around and pointed downwards with his thumb.

x

* * *

x

"Where the hell does this idiot think he is," O'Neill said shaking his head in dejection, "Wrestlemania?"

x

* * *

x

As Bruce began to make gestures of defiance towards Cell all the demons inside Larry's bar began to cheer. Causing Spike to look around in bewilderment like he was the only sane person left in the world.

"Idiots!" he muttered softly.

x

* * *

x

Having made his gestures towards Cell, with the whole world cheering him on Bruce then turned towards the camera, beckoning for them to come.

"Should I enter the ring too?" the reporter asked surprised.

"Don't worry," Bruce said encouragingly, "I will protect you."

A little unsure Jeremy took a step towards the platform.

"How can I express what I'm feeling, viewers?" he said hesitantly, then he took another step and stepped inside the ring, "If Bruce Schnitzengruber, hero of Earth can do this, so should I. I do this for you, viewers of Earth."

x

* * *

x

"Melodramatic ponce," Spike muttered inside Larry's bar before taking another swig.

x

* * *

x

"Bruce, now that you're about to square off against Cell, how do you feel?" the FOX NEWS reporter asked.

"Now that I am actually here, I feel sorry for Cell," Bruce said both confidently and excited, his German accent a little thicker now, "He probably thought that there was nobody who was both strong enough to take him and see through his tricks. And now that he has talked his talk he cannot back out."

Bruce turned towards Cell and began to yell.

"Listen up, you Schweinhund! You may have fooled everybody with your tricks, but you cannot fool me! I know everything about special effects! I worked with James Cameron! You used specially planted explosives to destroy the army, didn't you! But that trick won't work on me, I'll tell you. I worked with James Cameron! Prepare to be assassinated!"

x

* * *

x

Throughout the world people cheered as FOX NEWS, and other news channels who had taken over the FOX NEWS live feed, showed scenes as people expressed their loud approval.

x

* * *

x

Bruce's loud boast didn't seem to have phased Cell, as he continued staring into infinity.

"He doesn't seem to be that impressed," the reporter said surprised.

"He just doesn't want to admit defeat," Bruce said unshaken, "Hey asshole, do you know who you're dealing with?"

As Cell didn't respond Bruce then began to taunt him some more.

x

* * *

x

"Oh my God, is he a retard or something?" Joyce said as she came forth to look at the big screen which now had the FOX feed.

"I think it's safe to say this should be classified under 'too stupid to live', ma'am," Hammond said frowning at what he was seeing on the screen.

"They're lapping it up though," O'Neill said as he studied some other screens showing scenes of ecstatic crowds all over the world.

"I guess George Carlin was right after all," Daniel said flabbergasted, "Think of how stupid the average person is, then think about that half of the people are stupider then that."

"We'll make a true cynic out of you yet, my friend," O'Neill said proudly as he put his arm around Daniel's shoulder, then he looked at the FOX NEWS feed, "You know, I'm actually starting to root for Cell now."

x

* * *

x

Bruce was still busy taunting Cell when Cell suddenly looked up. But not to look at Bruce and the reporter. Instead Cell looked towards the north. As the camera swung that way a small dot could be seen high in the sky, coming towards them.

"Is that a jet?" the reporter asked curious.

"I don't hear any noise," Bruce said equally curious. Then the dot descended rapidly and came towards them.

"Wh-what is that?" the reporter said now flabbergasted.

"Ah, Vegeta," Cell said softly as he began to smirk, "I knew he wouldn't wait for the others. For his sake I hope that he improved."

Touching down flawlessly Vegeta landed on one of the other side of the ring, in his usual foul mood. His attention firmly fixed on Cell Vegeta completely ignored both Bruce and the reporter who stared at him in bewilderment.

"A strange man has just shown up, viewers," the reporter spoke into the microphone, "It actually looked like he just flew through the air."

"It's a trick," Bruce said quickly, "Special effects. Smoke and mirrors."

"Is he actually planning to enter the Cell Games as well, viewers?" the reporter said, "Let's find out."

The reporter walked over towards Vegeta.

"Um, who are you?" he asked a bit hesitantly, "Are you here to fight or to watch? If you're here to watch it can be dangerous this up close."

"Get lost!" Vegeta said without taking his eyes off of Cell, "And don't bother me _ever_ again."

x

* * *

x

"He's got style," O'Neill said approvingly at the SGC, "I'll give him that."

x

* * *

x

"He's obviously some kind of nutter," the reporter said in a wronged tone as he walked back towards Bruce, "He's also got weird hair."

"Those people cause the most problems," Bruce agreed. To which the reporter nodded in agreement. Then he checked his watch and looked directly into the camera.

"Five minutes, people of Earth. Five more minutes until the start of the Cell Games. The fate of the Earth hangs in the balance and the whole world is watching it here on FOX NEWS. So far nobody else has shown up to fight Cell and Bruce Schnitzengruber, the Devil's Rock, appears to be the only real challenger."

No sooner had he said when directly out of the sky something else came down and landed on the other side of the ring.

It was Android #16, looking as new and now sporting a Capsule Corp. logo on his chest.

"Did he just fly too?" the reporter said wide eyed.

"Same trick," Bruce said quickly.

Then Cell spoke up loudly for the first time.

"What a surprise, #16," Cell said, "I didn't think you would make it. Not in one piece that is."

On the other side Vegeta let out a snort.

"Only Bulma and her father could waste time on that collection of transistors," he said derogatory.

After this latest arrival the reporter had fallen back behind Bruce.

"Cell talked to him," he said, "they appear to know each other."

"Who cares," Bruce snorted unimpressed, "I can tell by the looks of him that his size is too big to be effective in ba…."

"Hey, look over there," the camera man said and swung his camera to the north-east, where a large group of dots could be seen approaching rapidly.

Cell now looked also and unfolded his arms from across his chest.

"Finally, Son Goku," Cell said softly, but eagerly.

Then, seen on nearly every television screen in the world, ten people landed.

x

* * *

x

"So they arrived at last," Hammond said back at the SGC.

"Not all of them," O'Neill said, "Where are our guys?"

x

* * *

x

"They all flew in?" the reporter said, his jaw almost hitting the floor.

"Must be a very popular trick," Bruce said, sounding a little unsure of himself now, "Maybe they used see through parachutes and ditched them at the last moment."

Then on the other side the big guy, Android #16, started to walk towards the newcomers. Walking past the camera man like he wasn't even there #16 walked up towards Faith.

"I want to thank you, Faith," the android smiled warmly, "Because of you I was repaired."

"Don't sweat it, Big Guy," Faith said a little unused to being praised, "Glad to be of help. To bad we couldn't save your friend."

Then Goku held up his hand towards the big android.

"Glad to have you on board," he said cheerful, "Let's do our best!"

Android #16 did not return Goku's cheer. If looks could kill Goku would probably be dead right now. A distinct possibility, for while none of the androids had ever used eye lasers, the technique did exist.

"I was made to destroy you, Son Goku," he said frosty, "Don't you _ever_ forget that."

Then he turned around and walked away.

"Well, that's a bummer," Goku whispered towards Krillin.

Meanwhile Cell looked around. Nearly everybody he was expecting had shown up. Nearly everyone.

Then, behind Vegeta, the air began to shimmer briefly and then a small army appeared as if out of nowhere, all standing in rank and file and each touching the other. With everybody in either direct or indirect contact with the man in front of him.

"Finally decided to show up, Movekk?" Vegeta said without looking over his shoulder, "Why did you bother bringing the trash along?"

"This is their world, Vegeta, they deserve a shot at defending it."

"Whatever," Vegeta shrugged indifferent.

On the other side of the ring the reporter and Bruce looked at the newcomers.

"It would appear that these are soldiers from the military," the reporter said surprised, "but they came almost out of nowhere?"

"Of course they do," Bruce said approvingly, "They are obviously the proud men of our Special Forces. They can sneak up to people without anyone seeing them. When I was filming Commandos we had this ex-special forces advisor who taught me many things."

Then Cell spoke up.

"Welcome everyone," Cell said, "Welcome to these games. Which just so happens to be named after me. What a coincidence. Who wants to be first?"

Flexing his muscles Goku stepped forward.

"How about I start us off first?"

"Do you really think we should start with you?" Trunks asked, but Goku waved away his objections. Instead he looked at his fellow Saiyans.

"Is that okay with you guys?"

"Be my guest," Vegeta shrugged, "You know who ends up having to finish him off, right?"

Then Goku looked at Belmovekk, who wanted to say something when suddenly Bruce Schnitzengruber interjected.

"Hey, I was here first! Who put you in charge?"

x

* * *

x

"I can't believe I used to like his movies," O'Neill said frowning back at the SGC, "That guy makes 'too stupid to live' look intelligent."

Meanwhile Hammond looked at Giles.

"Are you really sure we're going to need this…., this idiot?"

x

* * *

x

"Excuse me," the reporter said as he approached the Z-fighters, "Are you all going to enter in these games?"

"Well, not all of us," Goku said, "but most of us."

"Get real!" the reporter shouted, "This isn't a game! It's called that but you don't know what's going on here."

The Z-fighters looked at each other like they didn't know how to respond.

"I think you're the one that's clueless," Krillin eventually said, much to the reporter's chagrin. But before he could respond Bruce stepped in.

"Come on, there is no need to get angry," he said soothing to the reporter, "These people probably came here for the same reason we did. That means that their heart is in the right place. Each and every one of them. But surely you guys have heard of me, right?"

"This is Bruce Schnitzengruber," the reporter said pointing towards Bruce, "He is at the peak of physical perfection. He is the best trained fighter in the world. Action movie hero! What is your claim to fame?"

Goku wanted to say something when Krillin nudged him in the side.

"Just let him go ahead," Krillin whispered. Goku looked at Krillin like he didn't know what to make of it.

"Well, fine I guess," Goku conceded.

Now that things were sorted out Cell spoke up.

"It's time," Cell said impatiently, "I don't care who goes first, as long as somebody comes up here."

"I will," Bruce said as he raised his chin and looked confidently at Cell, "No disrespect for these fine fellows, but I'm the obvious choice."

"You do realize that he's going to kill you, right?" Goku said at Bruce, "This is not a game."

Bruce and the reporter looked at each other like they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Rolling his eyes the reporter looked at his camera man.

"Get a shot of that idiot," he said, then he spoke into the microphone, "Even though the whole world is rooting for Bruce right now, dear viewers, this man had the gall to tell Bruce that Cell was going to kill him. That this isn't a game."

x

* * *

x

"You know, I feel sorry for those soldiers guarding this valley that this moron managed to outsmart them," O'Neill said back at the SGC as he shook his head in disbelief, "Not even Joseph Goebbels would employ such idiots."

"Yeah, but the people seem to be agreeing with him," Daniel said as he pointed to another screen showing jeering people, "Democracy in action."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," O'Neill said despondent, "democracy simply doesn't work."

x

* * *

x

"Just let the idiot have his way," Krillin said to Goku, "We can always bring him back afterwards with the Dragonballs."

"Yeah, but what if his body becomes so damaged that it can't?" Goku countered.

"You cannot save everybody, Goku," Belmovekk said as he stepped in, "You cannot save a fool from himself, no matter how hard you try."

"It would also be the best Darwin Award nomination caught on camera _ever_!" Xander added with a big grin, "That alone would be worth it."

"Just left him, Goku," Krillin pleaded again.

"Fine," Goku relented, "Have it your way."

Waving towards Bruce and the reporter Goku gave the go ahead.

"A moment of wisdom," the reporter said approvingly, "Although I'm beginning to suspect this fool doesn't know what fate he just escaped from."

Bruce now prepared himself for battle. Taking a moment to concentrate, he then brought both hands together as he began to squat into a martial arts stance, then he opened his hands and did a few tai chi movements.

"What an idiot," Tien said shaking his head, "He's doing all sorts of things from at least half a dozen of martial arts but he doesn't seem to have a clue as to what they mean."

"Yeah," Yamcha echoed, "But then again, he knows how to make it look good. Which is all that matters on camera."

"But does he know this is not going to be a movie?" Tien retorted.

"Let's find out," Yamcha said eagerly.

Meanwhile the reporter continued to talk excited into his microphone.

"Just look at him! Bruce is indeed at the physical peak of perfection. All the training, including at least half a dozen martial arts has paid off. And what will he do next?"

Having concluded his so called martial arts warming up mixture Bruce then pointed towards the camera.

"Dear viewers, is he going to do it?" the reporter exclaimed ecstatic, "The dreaded Satan's Rock?"

Pointing one more time towards the camera, then towards Cell, Bruce ran towards one of the four ornamental towers that lined the corners of Cell's ring. Then using his forward momentum Bruce ran up against the tower until he was ten feet high, next thing he jumped off and made a perfect mid air turning jump kick, before landing like a cat on all fours.

"THAT WAS PERFECT!" the reporter said ecstatic, "I have not seen Bruce do the Devil's Rock in more then ten years! Flawless! Bruce has clearly shown he's on top of his game! Cell must be terrified now, cringing at this awesome display of Bruce's power!"

x

* * *

x

"Please, Cell, kill him," Master Roshi said appalled as he sat in front of his television in Kame House, "If there is any justice left in this world, for the good of all that is holy in martial arts, make it a gruesome death. So gruesome that he can't be resurrected."

x

* * *

x

"But it's too late for you now, Cell," the reporter continued on screen, "You can never apologize for your crimes now!"

General Hammond looked away from the screen towards Giles, seated behind his books.

"And you wanted us to save _that_?"

"I…., uh…, um," Giles stammered as he re-examined his prophecies, then he muttered softly, "it made more sense earlier."

x

* * *

x

Looking mighty pleased with himself Bruce Schnitzengruber looked at Cell, then he assumed a fighting stance.

"ALRIGHT THEN!" he yelled, "COME AT ME!"

As Bruce waited for Cell to move the FOX journalist continued his report.

"The Cell Games have begun. The fate of the world will be decided today. Bruce Schnitzengruber, champion of Earth, hero of mankind, has come here today to dispense some old fashioned Earth justice with his fists of fury. What will he do next?"

"The rules are simple, viewers, you lose if you fall out of bounds, give up, or die! But our hopes and thoughts are with you, Bruce! We know you're going to bring down this monster."

"And there he goes! Bruce opens up with a vicious attack, his Dynamite roundhouse kick, the envy of Chuck Norris, hits home right against Cell's head. As my late grandfather used to say: That's gotta hurt! Could this match already be over?"

x

* * *

x

"This does not make any sense?" Thor said confused as he watched the News feed on his own ship..

x

* * *

x

"Not content with resting on his laurels Bruce keeps up the attack with a barrage of blows," the reporter almost shouted into the microphone, "The monster is completely helpless as it can't even fight back, Bruce is just too much for Cell."

Then Bruce ran up the nearest tower and went for his trademark Devil's Rock finishing move and launched himself at Cell.

But as he neared Cell and tried to make his turning jump hit home Cell reached out with almost contemptuous ease swatted him away like he was a fly.

"Get out of my face," Cell said unimpressed as his swipe hit home and sent Bruce flying through the air like he was a baseball sent flying after a homerun winning hit.

THUD!

With a low bass noise Bruce came to a sudden deceleration against a large rock, the last remains of a hill that Cell had used as a sort of quarry to build his ring.

x

* * *

x

All over the world cheering crowds fell silent.

x

* * *

x

"Finally," O'Neill said back at the SGC, "That clown's finished. I still think a Hellfire would have been more merciful though."

x

* * *

x

As the reporter fell silent Krillin leaned over towards Gohan.

"To be honest I was actually rooting for Cell," he whispered conspiratorially.

"I think we all were," Xander agreed, then he rubbed his hands in glee, "People, I think we do have a winner for this year's Darwin Award. Whatever happens today, we can at least be proud of that!"

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Buffy said as she nodded towards the rock, "He lives."

As everybody turned their heads, they saw Bruce move on the rocky slopes, reaching for his face in pain.

"He lives," Piccolo said sounding disappointed, "I guess not even Cell wants to dirty his hand on this fool."

"Or maybe he's more fit then we gave him credit for," Yamcha said in Bruce's defense.

Meanwhile the FOX NEWS reporter was completely and utterly demoralized.

"He… he fell out of bounds," he said, his voice breaking up, "Bruce has…, lost?"

x

* * *

x

"Serves him right!" Spike said smirking as everybody around him was shocked.

"How can you say something like that?" Larry said pointing to the screen, "That was Bruce Schnitzengruber! He lost! How can you be so cavalier about that?"

Spike looked at Larry like he was stupid or something.

"How can you live in Sunnydale and be so stupid?" he said incredulously, "The goddamn Slayer is there with her Slayerettes, the Big Scary and all the other boneheads! They tore apart this town last year? Graduation thingy don't ring a bell?"

Larry didn't reply. Verbally that is. Instead he just returned a vapid look.

"Just bring me another beer," Spike muttered and looked away, "I swear the Hellmouth is rotting you people's brains away."

x

* * *

x

"Come on now!" Cell said out impatiently, "Let's get these games started. Who will be first? How about you, Son Goku?"

"Yes," Goku said excited as he put one foot in on the ring's dais. But before he could rise and step into the ring somebody put his hand on his shoulder.

"No," Belmovekk's voice said, " _I_ will go first."

All eyes turned to Belmovekk.

"What are you doing?" Buffy said worried, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I think she's right," Goku said, "You have improved, Belmovekk, but not enough to defeat Cell."

"Neither have you, Goku," Belmovekk countered calmly, "You said so yourself."

"Yeah, but I have a….., um, you-know-what," Goku said a little uncomfortably as he looked around sheepishly.

"Yeah, I know all about your you-know-what," Belmovekk said, "And guess what, I also have a you-know-what. And it depends on me going first, not you."

"Do you absolutely have too?" Goku asked.

"Uh, yeah?" Belmovekk retorted.

"Come on!" Goku said disappointed, "I want to go first."

Belmovekk looked at his fellow Saiyan and shook his head.

"You are unbelievable," he said frowning.

"How about we rock-paper-scissor for it?" Goku suggested. Causing Belmovekk to facepalm himself.

"How old are you, Goku, ten? I am going first. I call seniority."

Goku looked thwarted and most definitely not pleased.

"But I was really looking forward to this fight," he said like a spoiled child.

"Torak's Teeth, Goku, you are not here to enjoy yourself," Belmovekk said chiding, "We are on a mission, remember? The mission comes first! Always!"

"Just get on with it!" Vegeta called out impatiently, "Goku, Movekk, whichever of you two clowns dies first is of no concern to me. As long as you get it over with!"

Turning around Goku began to pout as he walked away from the ring.

"Stupid mission," he muttered dejected.

Now that Goku had turned away Belmovekk faced Cell.

"I will fight first," he said solemnly.

"Fine," Cell said not very enthusiastically, seemingly having preferred to square off against Goku instead, "Get in the ring and we'll have a fight. I may finally get to kill you off once and for all."

"Don't do this," Buffy pleaded one more time, "He's going to kill you! Think of mom! The Twins!"

"I do this not because I want too, but because I have to. I do this for your mother, for dearest Dawn and Mayan," Belmovekk said, then he smiled, "And I do this for you, young lady."

"What? More of this macho chauvinist bullshit crap?" Buffy said angry, then she pretended to speak in an imitation of Belmovekk's voice, "I do this so you won't have to, young lady."

"You could not be more wrong, Buffy," Belmovekk smiled, "I do this so you can be what you need to be. Tell your mother and sisters that I love them."

And then he stepped into the ring.


	34. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter 19**

' **Life In a Glass House'**

x

x

AN: _Plotbunny derailment time! Plotbunny derailment time! Plotbunny derailment time! Plotbunny derailment time! Plotbunny derailment time! Plotbunny derailment time! Plotbunny derailment time!_

x

* * *

x

Sunnydale California, C-hour + 10 minutes

x

The clientele in Larry's bar was thoroughly demoralized after Bruce got slapped around like a red headed stepchild. It was like the spirit had gone out of everyone and was replaced by the ghost of depression present.

On the plus side for Larry they all started ordering massive amounts of alcohol to drown their grief.

The only one not despondent in the slightest was Spike who was starting to feel pretty good about himself. For the next one to face off against Cell was the Big Scary himself. And while he wasn't part enough of the incrowd that they had taken him along to the Cell Games, he was still part enough to be privy of how utterly and insanely uber-strong Cell currently was.

"This at least should be interesting," Spike said amused as he watched Belmovekk enter the ring on television. Who knew, Cell might actually rid him of a very troublesome pest once and for all.

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, C-hour + 10 minutes

x

As Belmovekk stepped into the ring, the FOX NEWS reporter was completely shaken. A psychologist would probably say that he was now suffering from cognitive dissonance. Where he had just witnessed the unthinkable and his mind tried to make sense of it by coming up with an explanation that would both make sense and preserve his own ego. A condition some would say that Vegeta was intimately familiar with.

"The Earth is doomed, viewers," the reporter said gloomily, "our hero has fallen. Who can take his place? Surely not those nobodies who….. What do I see? Is that….?"

The camera turned around and showed a bloodied Bruce Schnitzengruber as he came staggering back to the ring.

"Bruce, are you alright?" the reporter asked worried as he and the camera man made for Bruce.

"I am fine," Bruce said dismissively, "It is just a flesh wound."

"For a flesh wound it sure bleeds a lot," the reporter said worried as he examined Bruce's bloodied face, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I've had worse on my last battle royale," Bruce said, "I just need some tissues."

"I have some Kleenex," the camera man said and reached into one of his pockets, producing an opened package of Kleenex tissues, "Here."

Taking the Kleenex Bruce began to wipe some of the blood of his face.

"Bruce, you lost," the reporter asked, "How could you lose? What happened?"

Bruce stopped wiping and wearily eyed the reporter.

"I lost my footing, okay?" he said, "Those towers are really slippery."

"But Bruce," the reporter asked, "It looked like he knocked you straight through the air?"

Bruce again looked wearily at the reporter, then he looked straight into the camera.

"I can see how that would appear so to the untrained eye. But the Devil's Rock is a very intricate technique. A lot can go wrong and unfortunately that tower I used to launch myself from was more slippery then I expected. I have no doubt that that was trickery on the part of Cell, he knows I like to use the high ground whenever possible. So I used the Devil's Rock and undoubtedly would have finished off Cell if I hadn't slipped and inadvertently launched myself in the wrong direction."

"I admit I made a judgment of error. I should not have used the Devil's Rock so casually as I did. I was lulled into a false sense of security because I had him completely powerless. I won't make the same mistake again. Once I've taken a brief pause I'll go back and finish him off."

x

* * *

x

"He should run for political office," O'Neill laughed back at the SGC, "He comes up with better excuses for his failures then Kinsey.

x

* * *

x

"But Bruce," the FOX NEWS reporter said back, "You got knocked out of the ring. You were out of bounds. You lost your shot at defeating Cell."

"Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy," Bruce said shaking his head, "This is not Wrestlemania. Or the world championship heavy weight boxing. There is not some fancy title at stake here. We're not here to play by Cell's fancy rules, we're here to save the world!"

x

* * *

x

"YEAH!" the clientele of Larry's bar shouted as they began to pump their fists, "Kick his ass, Bruce!"

"Bruce is right!" Larry shouted excited, "Fuck the rules! Next round is on the house!"

x

* * *

x

"I say we watch one of these fine fellows fight Cell and then its clobbering time," Bruce said, then he slammed his right fist into his left hand, "Then I'll show Cell how it's really done!"

x

* * *

x

"YEAH!" the patrons of Larry's bar again shouted in approval. Meanwhile Spike held up an empty bottle of beer.

"Uh, Larry, about that free round….?"

x

* * *

x

"There you have it, viewers, Bruce lost his footing and fell out of bounds. But after a short pause he will challenge Cell again," the reporter said into the camera, "So for now we might as well watch one of the other contenders."

The camera swung back to the ring, showing Belmovekk as he faced off Cell.

"Little is known of him," the reporter continued, "Other then judging by his uniform that he seems to be of the US military. Although I have yet to see one of our proud men and women in uniform with such long wild hair. It's like more those other two, the idiot blonde and the rude black-haired one. Your thoughts, Bruce?"

"Well, you put me in a tough spot here, Jeremy," Bruce said off screen, "I cannot talk trash about our brave men and women in uniform. But the crazy hair does indicate that maybe we are not dealing with somebody who is in the actual military. Unless he is from the Niederlanden. Haha! Seriously, for all we know we could be dealing with somebody who is possibly ex-army, or who likes to shop at the army surplus store."

x

* * *

x

"Wait a minute," Buffy suddenly said at the others, "What does he mean that I should tell mom that he loves her? That doesn't sound like some somebody who plans on coming back. That sounds like somebody who plans to un-come back!"

"I find myself freakishly coming to the same conclusion," Xander agreed.

"We have to help him," Buffy said as she looked around, her eyes coming to a stop on Goku, "Aren't you going to help him?"

"He hasn't even begun," Goku said pointing a finger towards Belmovekk, "Besides, it would be rude to interrupt. That would be cheating."

"Cheating?" Buffy said incredulously, her voice going up an octave, "Not that Saiyan macho bullshit again! We're here to stop the apocalypse here, not play tag team on Wrestlemania."

"I thought out of all people you would understand, Summers," Vegeta said without taking his eyes of Cell, "This is not about your childish desires. This is about two warriors facing each other on the glorious field of battle. If Movekk has any honor left in him he would never want you to interfere. And if it is his time to die, then he will face his death like a true Saiyan."

Buffy looked at Vegeta with eyes that could kill on sight.

"You're a loon," she said venomously.

"Still a loon who will stop you if you interfere," Vegeta said unimpressed, "Right now Movekk's in my way. And the longer you drag it out, the longer I have to wait. So stay out! Or I will make you stay out!"

"Do you believe that guy?" Buffy said incredulously as she turned around and faced the others.

"Actually, he's right," Goku said dead earnest.

Buffy looked too flabbergasted to say a word. Then Mayan walked up her and put her hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"I know, sis, I know. They're all insane."

x

* * *

x

As he faced off against Cell a thousand emotions went through Belmovekk's mind. Not the least of which was the full realization of what he was about to do. The last time he faced Cell he had gotten killed. And at that time Cell was nowhere near as strong as he was now. Even though his own power had increased greatly as well, he knew he was no match for his fellow Saiyans, or the hybrids for that matter, barring his own daughter perhaps.

"You know, I'm glad you're first," Cell said as he began to smirk, "Having Goku first means not saving the best for last."

"I know my place in the greater scheme of things," Belmovekk said calmly, "Your insults are meaningless."

"I shall enjoy killing you again," Cell smirked, "And this time it shall be permanent."

"Bigger men then you have tried," Belmovekk said, "Shall we dance?"

Then suddenly the scenery changed and Belmovekk found himself no longer in the Cell Games but back at his home in the Vale of Aldur.

"NOT NOW!" Belmovekk yelled annoyed as he looked around in vain for his mirror image, clad in gold armor.

But there was no sign of him to be had.

"Of all the times he could have chosen he chose this one," Belmovekk muttered aggravated, "Alright, worm, show yourself!"

There was no reply.

"I have no time for your fun and games, worm," Belmovekk said as he walked around the corner of his home.

And found nothing.

Walking around the entire domed structure Belmovekk found not a trace of the elusive Goa'uld specter that inhabited his mind.

"Very funny," Belmovekk said fuming, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, little worm. Time for your medica….."

As he returned to the main entrance of his dome he saw something that hadn't been there before.

His old space pod spaceship.

He had not seen his old space ship since arriving on Earth. Not even spent a single thought on it, even though he knew it was now in the hands of the US military at one of their secret bases. But as he saw the old girl he couldn't help but be struck by the desire to touch it.

"Hello old girl," he said as he tenderly put his hand on the space pod's hull. She wasn't one of the fast models, like the ones that the Ginyu Force had been equipped with. Freeza never gave the Saiyans access to the most advanced tech which meant that his Saiyan mercenaries had to make do with Freeza's older hand-me-downs and if possibly try to hitch a ride with a faster troopship. Which was one of the reasons why his journey to Earth had taken so long.

Still he wouldn't trade her in for the latest model even if he could. The old girl had served him well in the past. She had enabled him to survive the chase from Freeza's goons, the crash landing on Aldur's planet and after 4000 years of neglect he was still able to repair and fly her through space for the longest journey ever taken with a space pod. She did deserve better treatment then to be casually abandoned and then forgotten twice.

After his crash somewhere in the plains of Algaria and his subsequent elevation to disciple of Aldur Belmovekk had relocated his old space ship to the mountains of Ulgoland, where there was less chance of anyone picking it apart. On the account of it being loaded with monsters. And there it had lain for the better part of 4000 years until Aldur had charged him to go to Earth. The only time it had been in the Vale was when he had fixed her up after being told to come here.

Since it appeared to be finished this could mean that…..

Turning around Belmovekk walked back to his home, opened the front door and stepped inside.

"SURPRISE!"

As they mobbed him Belmovekk was suddenly surrounded by his fellow sorcerers, Belgarath, Polgara, Beldin, Beltira and Belkira. Tables were groaning under the amounts of food and drink that the Twins had prepared and as they all greeted him Belmovekk soon found himself holding a large tankard of ale.

This was the scene of his goodbye party.

Even though they had basically dispersed throughout the World, Polgara somewhere in the West playing great-great-grandmother to the bloodline of her long gone sister, Belgarath trying to lead a certain Grolim priest hell bent on finding Polgara on a merry goose chase throughout the West, Beldin overseeing Torak's moulding body in a cave in Chtol Murgos and the Twins as always in the Vale, they had all taken a leave from whatever they were doing to give him one final send off.

That had been both a good and a bittersweet day. It was good to see them all together again. And bittersweet as well because, after all, parting was such sweet sorrow.

"Did we surprise….," one of the Twins said.

"… you brother?" the other one finished.

"You might as well say that," Belmovekk said a little uncomfortably.

"Good!" Beldin said with a big grin on his face and patted him on his back, "We thought we might give you a little send off before you're off on your big send off."

"How long did you think about that clever remark?" Belgarath said to Beldin.

"Not long enough actually," Beldin retorted, "It gets boring watching Torak's body. I got distracted thinking why mountains form."

Next thing Polgara threw her arms around him.

"I will miss you, Onky," she said mournfully. Onky had been her pet name for him ever since she was a little child and had noticed that he was the only person in the World who had a tail. It was short for uncle monkey.

"Promise me you will come back, Onky," she said softly, "Promise me you come back in one piece."

"Why would I not?" Belmovekk asked surprised.

"Just a feeling," she said evasively. And she no longer said a word about it after that. Then lots of good eating and drinking followed, too much drinking actually, resorting in Belmovekk, Belgarath and Beldin wandering through the Vale drunkenly and singing loudly afterwards.

The trio dropped off Belgarath in his tower and into his bed, where the senior sorcerer fell asleep and soon started to snore loudly.

"Come," Beldin said as he brought a finger to his lips and signalled Belmovekk to be silent, "We musht be vewy quiet."

"Of course," Belmovekk replied and the two drunkards made for the exit, stumbling loudly over at least half a dozen things that Belgarath kept in his disorderly tower apartment.

Through sheer luck, or maybe more because of Belgarath's drunken stupor, Beldin and Belmovekk made it out of Belgarath's tower without waking him up.

As soon they were outside Belmovekk rolled Belgarath's entry stone back on the account that neither of them was too sober to use their Will. Then they resumed their loud drunken singing as they staggered off towards Beldin's place.

Once they got there Beldin turned to Belmovekk.

"Wanna come in fow ah, um, little aftahparty drink?" he grinned.

"Did we not drink the entire supply of the Twins dry?" Belmovekk asked, to which Beldin shook his head.

"No," he said as he tried to tap his nose and missed half of the time, "I nicked a couple of kegs fwom 'em just for times like this."

"In that case," Belmovekk said as he extended his arm in a welcoming gesture towards Beldin's tower, "lead the way."

The two drunken sorcerers went inside and made for his living quarters, where Beldin began to rummage inside one of his cabinets.

"You don't keep them in your pantry?" Belmovekk asked as he sat down on a chair.

"Na," Beldin replied, "You gotta hides 'em. Cause sometimes they twy to nick 'em back."

"Ah," Belmovekk nodded as he understood. After that Beldin continued the search.

"Now where did I puts 'em?" the hunched back sorcerer said stunned, I really thought I puts 'em hew."

"Maybe the twins saw through your ruse and looked elsewhere," Belmovekk suggested sly.

"The day me is outsmarted by those two is the day me tuwns in me membership of this fratewnity," Beldin said back, then he held up a wooden casket in triumph, "I knewwit!"

"A mighty triumph it is, my good fellow, a mighty triumph indeed!" Belmovekk said approvingly. Emerging from his cabinet with the small barrel of ale Beldin removed the plug and looked for a tap so they could pour beer from it. Unfortunately he couldn't find a tap at short notice.

"Aw hell," Beldin said frustrated, then he shrugged, "Who cawes!"

So he poured the ale straight from the barrel into a tankard, resulting in a lot of spilled ale.

"Aw cwap!" he exclaimed as he tasted it, "It's gone flat!"

"How long have you been stashing that barrel?" Belmovekk asked, as Beldin sniffed the barrel's opening.

"Me thinks it might 'ave been hewe since before Vo Mimbre," the hunched back sorcerer replied as he withdrew from the casket, "Century old ale, yuck!"

"I guess it is too late to run to the twins to get a new supply?" Belmovekk asked hopeful.

"Belgarath dwank it all," Beldin said disappointed, "Damn, what is we going to do?"

"Off to bed I guess," Belmovekk said as he got up, but Beldin pushed him back and shook his hand.

"No, my monkey fwiend, you's not gonna get off this easy," Beldin insisted, "Why don't you make us something to 'imbibe' as it were."

"Like what?" Belmovekk asked. Beldin didn't respond, instead he picked up the casket, staggered to the window and threw it out.

"Thassit, goodbye to wubbish" he said as he pretended to dust off his hands, then he stood still and thought hard, something not made easy after the copious alcohol consumption of the evening, "How about that god awful stuff you sometimes come up with? The stuff that can make paint peel off walls just by opening a bottle. That gives you a hangover just by sniffing it."

"Ah," Belmovekk said as he understood, then he waved his hand over the table and at least six large bottles stood in his hand's wake.

"That's the stuff!" Beldin said encouragingly, then he sat down, picked up a bottle, opened it and drank deeply, "Oh yeah, I can feels a headache coming wight now!"

"Then its best to keep drinking," Belmovekk said and reached for a bottle himself.

The two sorcerers continued their private party, occasionally breaking out in singing. It was after they had emptied the first batch of bottles and Belmovekk had made some more that the Saiyan turned serious.

"Can I-I-I ask youse a question?" Belmovekk said, his speech now also impaired.

"Why waste time talkin' when we's can waste time drinkin'," Beldin retorted, opening a new bottle.

"But I-I was wondrin' something," Belmovekk protested.

"Less talk, more dwinkin'!" Beldin said as he took another swig. Then he saw that Belmovekk wasn't joining in his toast, "You's not drinkin'?"

"I-I-I was wondrin' what P-Polgara meant by me hassing to promise to come back," Belmovekk said.

Beldin looked at Belmovekk, reached out and patted him on the cheek.

"Thewe there," he said like he was trying to put a child at ease, "Da is just wimsy talk. You knows da ladies? They's just getting a bit emotiosomeding when you's is leaving."

"But she n-n-never said it before," Belmovekk countered, then he took a brief sip, "It's outta character that is!"

"Pol's in full two hundert pewcent mommy mode thissen days," Beldin shrugged, "It means nodding!"

Belmovekk put down his bottle and eyed Beldin wearily.

"Y-y-you're hiding someth-th-thing," he said suspiciously.

"Me is not!" Beldin said out flatly.

"Now I k-k-k-know, you're hidin' someth-thing," Belmovekk said and pointed at Beldin, "You's got a tell."

"Do not!" Beldin protested

"Do too!" Belmovekk said back with a growing smile.

"I don't has a tell," Beldin said.

"Do too," Belmovekk smiled.

"Like what?" Beldin asked, upon which Belmovekk tapped his nose.

"Your nose, m-m-my h-hunchybacked friend," Belmovekk said sly, "It twitches when you lie."

"Does not!" Beldin protested vehemently.

"Does too," Belmovekk said as he tapped his nose again, "It absofuckinlutely twitches. It just did when you just lied."

"My nose did not just twitch when I just lied!" Beldin protested, then he put his hand for his mouth.

"Ah ha!" Belmovekk said as he leaned over, "So you admits it!"

"Crap!" Beldin muttered, then he leaned forward and put his head on the table and began to hit it with his forehead.

"That is not the w-w-way to stop the h-h-h-headaches," Belmovekk said, but Beldin didn't stop.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," the sorcerer muttered while hitting the table.

"So what are y-you hi-hiding?" Belmovekk asked, "What was Pol so worried about?"

"We dissen' wanted to wowwy you," Beldin said as he looked up guiltily, "Them Twins found someding in them Mrin Codex. Someding about you's was gonna die on youw mission. Them Twins should nevah have told Pol about it, but they did. So that's why she was going all womanly on you."

Belmovekk was to flabbergasted to say anything. Then Beldin did.

"I don't feel so good," the hunched back sorcerer said as he reached for his head, "I don't think me should'ave bumped me head."

Then Beldin fell over and collapsed on the table.

"Hey," Belmovekk said as he prodded his fellow sorcerer, "T-t-tell me more about t-this prophessie!"

The only reply he got from Beldin was loud snoring.

"Great," Belmovekk said annoyed, "Now I have to wait until to…."

Then Belmovekk reached for his head and slumped in his chair, falling into a drunken stupor as well.

Next thing Belmovekk opened his eyes again and sat up straight.

"I do not remember any of this," he said surprised, his drunkenness now gone.

"Perhaps because you were so drunk that the alcohol in your veins was suffering from blood poisoning," a new voice said behind him. One with harmonic overtones.

"Either of you two completely forgot about this conversation the next day," Amūn said as he walked into view from behind Belmovekk, "You went home, packed your things and took off in your space ship to meet your fate."

Amūn walked past Beldin, then he stopped and put both hands on the drunken snoring sorcerer.

"And yet, without you even knowing it your brain still remembered this conversation," Amūn continued, "buried deep inside your subconscious where you could never find it. But I did. Charming fellow by the way. We had a fun conversation."

"So you found what?" Belmovekk said annoyed, "some conversation between two drunken men? You're interrupting my fight with Cell because of this?"

"I know your plans, Saiyan," Amūn said as his eyes fixated on Belmovekk's, "I want you to desist. Step down! Let Goku handle this. He has his plan, remember?"

"I have my own plans," Belmovekk countered, "We cannot bank everything on Goku's plan."

"Are you retarded?" Amūn said incredulously, "Did you not hear what Beldin said? You are going to die and not return! Cell will rip you apart!"

"Then maybe that is how it should be," Belmovekk said calmly, causing Amūn to recoil in horror.

"You can't do this," Amūn said horrified, "We may not be as lucky as we were the last time. We could really die this time."

"I thought you wanted to be a warrior, little worm," Belmovekk said scornful, "Be a warrior amongst other warriors? This is what warriors do. We die, so others may live."

"But what would happen to me?" Amūn protested, "This is all that I have left. You have no right to decide for us both."

"Frankly, my wormly friend, you are lucky I did not went to all the trouble to end you years ago," Belmovekk said sternly, "Now let me make this absolutely clear, this is _my_ / mind and _my_ body that you are part of. But _yo_ u are _not_ in control. And if it is _my_ fate to die then _you_ should be grateful for the reprieve _you_ have had so far."

"Don't do it!" Amūn pleaded but Belmovekk stood up.

"This, my old Goa'uld friend, is not your choice to make."

And with that Belmovekk went Super Saiyan.

x

* * *

x

Bruce and the FOX reporter had been watching as Belmovekk stepped into the ring.

"So what do you think of him, Bruce," the reporter asked, "What are his chances?"

"Well, Jeremy, obviously not good," Bruce explained like he was a side ring commentator, "I can see that this man is clearly too old to be even in this ring."

"But he bears a US Army uniform," the reporter countered, "Surely the army would not send him out here for nothing?"

"Like I said, he does not need to be in the army," Bruce said, "Anyone can buy a uniform in a dump sto….."

Suddenly Bruce and the news time were blasted with strong winds as Belmovekk raised his power. And then, right before their very eyes and through the camera all across the world, he erupted into Super Saiyan.

"HOLY CRAP!"

x

* * *

x

"I guess we now have the first televised going to Super Saiyan," O'Neill said as he watched Super Saiyan Belmovekk slam into Cell.

"World wide premiere actually," Daniel remarked.

"We knew this was going to happen the moment we allowed that reporter to go there," Sam said from behind her computer.

"Well, we can still do something about that," O'Neill said as he looked at the station that controlled the Predator drones circling Cell's valley.

"Jack," Daniel groaned.

"It's just a suggestion," O'Neill shrugged, "I'm not pushing the button. Yet."

"It's too messy," Sam said and brought up an overview from one of the Predator drones, "The signal is coming directly from next to the ring. Most likely the camera they're carrying."

"That would be messy," O'Neill agreed, then he again eyed the firing button, "Still, it might be a sacrifice I would be willing to make."

"I have a better solution," Sam said, punched in some data on her computer and brought up a shot of Earth taken from space, with dozens of circles going around the planet, "If we can't take out the messenger, why not disrupt the message instead? It's a live satellite feed. Disrupt the satellite feed, no more live coverage."

"Ah," O'Neill said as his eyes began to twinkle in delight, "So all we need is a way to shut that satellite down? I hear the Enterprise's main gun is in dire need of something it can blow up."

"That is a civilian satellite," General Hammond said, "Blowing it up will cause some major hassle."

"No more then the Super Saiyan show live on every television in the world!" O'Neill countered as he pointed towards the big screen with the FOX NEWS feed.

"You'd have to blow up more then just a single satellite," Sam said and at least six satellite orbits began to highlight on her screen, "These are all currently capable of relaying the signal."

"We could still do that," O'Neill said a bit hesitantly.

"Think about it, Jack," Daniel interjected, "If one satellite gets lost, that's an accident, if six of them get lost, even FOX would be able to deduce that something is going on here."

"And that's excluding the fact that over time more satellites come within range to pick up their signal again," Sam said, "We can't keep going blowing up commercial satellites."

"Do can!" O'Neill said back.

"I have a better suggestion," Sam said, "Why not hack into the satellites and shut them all down at once?"

"Even though this idea is light on mayhem I like where this is going," O'Neill said and looked at General Hammond, "That is, if you give the order, sir?"

General Hammond looked at O'Neill, then at the big screen, where Cell and Belmovekk were duking it out.

"Make it so."

x

* * *

x

"Hey," a demon next to Spike suddenly said in Larry's bar as he pointed towards a shot of Belmovekk on the big screen TV, "isn't that….."

"What, you've only noticed now?" Spike snorted. Idiots! He really felt like he was the last sane person left in a world doused with a stupid ray.

x

* * *

x

"I have to admit, he has improved a lot," Goku said as he watched Belmovekk fight Cell, "For someone who's nowhere near Cell's power he's holding up pretty good so far."

"He's always had a big bag full of tricks," Piccolo commented.

"Even though he was not an Elite he was renowned on planet Vegeta for being one of the few who had mastered all six forms at an early age," Vegeta remarked, "Which was what got my father interested in him in the first place."

"I wish I had a teacher as knowledgeable as Belmovekk when I grew up," Trunks added, "No offense, Gohan, but your future self knew next to nothing compared to Mayan's father."

"The Big Guy saved my life in more ways then I can count," Xander said, "Without him I don't even dare dream how I would have ended up."

"What is it with you guys?" Buffy said in a mixture of indignation and bewilderment, "You talk as if he's already dead!"

"Don't you get it, sister?" Mayan said calmly, "He _is_ already dead. He died the moment the moment he stepped into the ring."

"It doesn't have to be," Buffy countered and pointed towards Bruce, "He survived!"

"He only survived because Cell couldn't care less about him," Mayan said, "Our father on the other hand, I have seen that look in his eyes before. It was the same look Gohan had when he went out to face the androids, that last time. Our father doesn't plan to leave that ring alive."

x

* * *

x

"Bruce! What's going on?" the reporter said shaken as a high speed fight happened right in front of their eyes.

"A trick, it must be a trick," Bruce said equally shaken. But not loud enough for the reporter to pick it up.

"What did you say, Bruce?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing," Bruce said quickly, "Perhaps that this guy is better then I first thought. He must be really trained to peak perfection. It was just his age that put me off."

Had the reporter been any good he might have asked Bruce why age was such a big factor in this fighter's case and of no consequence in Bruce's. Of course the reporter chose to ignore it completely.

"So how do you rate him now, Bruce?"

Bruce struck a thinking pose as he examined Belmovekk.

"He is obviously very good, but he seems to be lacking in striking power," Bruce said after some thinking, "I've known a couple of fighters who were like that. They were impossible to hit, knew lots of fancy moves, but couldn't punch through a wet paper towel if their lives depended on it. I would like to draw attention to my fight with Fire-Eater McDougall in Wrestlemania XI, who was very much like that. Impossible to hit, always dancing around me, but never able to really knock me down. And when he finally got tired and slowed down it was all over for him."

"So what's your prediction, Bruce?"

"If this was a boxing match I would say he would go down in the last round," Bruce said, "Since the Cell Games have no rounds I'd say as soon as he gets tired."

x

* * *

x

On his ship Thor watched Belmovekk transform into Saiyan, then charge into Cell and fight. The energy from his transformation alone was enough to cause his sensors to spike dangerously. And now, during the actual fight, all sorts of interesting data was coming in. And it was very interesting indeed. If Thor had been raised on Earth and had seen the movie Jaws this would probably be the time where he would say that he was going to need a bigger boat. Instead he said something else.

"Interesting."

x

* * *

x

Having fought the Saiyan before Cell by now had a good idea what to expect of him. He was probably the most technically gifted of all his opponents, and even though he had greatly resented him the last time, this time he was under no time pressure so it might prove an interesting warm-up fight for his main fight, the one with Goku.

But as the fight progressed Cell noticed something that again pissed him off. What should have been an interesting match between skill vs. brute force was ruined because this asshole Saiyan was clearly not living up to his potential. It was like his fight with Trunks on that planet far away all over again. Only where Trunks had proven to be disappointing because he wasn't living up to his boast, somehow it seemed like this Saiyan was trying to lose on purpose.

Well, if this Saiyan was trying to play games with him he would show him some games of his own.

While there was no question of him throwing the match he was not going to let him lose either.

x

* * *

x

"Something's wrong," Xander said as he took a few steps closer to the ring, "He's not fighting to win."

"That would be pretty much impossible," Piccolo remarked casually.

"But he seems to be fighting to lose instead," Xander said.

"BELMO, GIVE UP!" Buffy yelled, but Belmovekk seemed to pay no attention.

"What's he up too?"

x

* * *

x

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Crying out Belmovekk tried to come to grip with the pain of being slammed face first into the arena. Shaking his head he tried to get up, only to look into the eyes of Buffy, as she shouted something he couldn't hear.

Next thing Cell slammed elbow first into his back and he had a pretty good idea what she had trying to say to him.

x

* * *

x

"Oh, that's just got to hurt," the reporter said on the big screen at the SGC.

"I was right," Bruce said in a pitying tone of voice, "He ran out of steam."

x

* * *

x

"I can't bear to watch this," Joyce said as she got up and left the command center.

"I don't even like the guy and I can't bear to watch this," O'Neill said, "What's he doing?"

"Getting his ass beaten on global television?" Daniel suggested.

x

* * *

x

As he fell backwards on the ground after another thorough smackdown and opened his eyes again Belmovekk looked up into Cell's smirking face.

"I don't know what your game is, Saiyan," the creature smirked, "But whatever it is, you're not getting it."

"Just finish it," Belmovekk grunted, "End it! Right now!"

Cell then picked up Belmovekk by his uniform.

"Maybe if you start acting like a real fighter I might," Cell said, then he struck him with his other hand and sent him flying backwards on a collision course straight for one of the towers.

But before he could strike them Cell appeared behind him, almost casually extended his elbow causing Belmovekk to smash face first into it.

As the Saiyan fell backwards Cell body slammed into him, then another time. And another time. And another. Until he was coughing up blood.

"You know Saiyan, if you're not going to give your best, I'm just going to make an object lesson out of you. In pain!"

x

* * *

x

"We've got to do something!" Buffy said worried, only to draw an angry stare from Vegeta.

"Get in and you'll die!" the Saiyan prince stated, "I will not be denied my turn because of your interference."

x

* * *

x

"Yeah!" Spike said excited as he saw a whole world of hurt land time and time again on Belmovekk, "Take that, you alien wanker!"

It wasn't everyday that you saw the Big Scary get his comeuppance and Spike was loving it. Big time!

Then something odd happened.

By now it was clear that most of the people inside Larry's bar had finally recognized Belmovekk as the Saiyan, who together with the Slayer had instituted the Edict. Some of them had even gotten a good licking from him in the past. Some of the demons still told hushed stories about the time he disemboweled and tortured to death one of Spike's Tarakan assassins right in this very bar.

And yet, despite having every reason to hate the Big Scary, one demon said something that received general approval.

"Bruce should step in and put an end to this!"

x

* * *

x

"This is brutal," O'Neill said as he saw Belmovekk get mangled on the big screen, "You can almost see the blood splatter off the television. I almost expect shit to be happening in bullet time."

x

* * *

x

"What the hell are you doing?"

As Belmovekk looked up he looked into his own mirror image, clad in gold armor.

"You know what my plan is," Belmovekk coughed.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Amūn sighed dejected, "I guess there's no chance of me talking you out of this crazy scheme?"

"No way in hell," Belmovekk coughed, "Which is where we are going by the way."

"So be it," Amūn sighed, then his face turned serious, "He's not going to give you what you want, Saiyan."

"I know," Belmovekk replied, "But I cannot do it myself, it has to be by his hand."

"I understand," Amūn nodded, then he bit his lip, "It has been one hell of a ride, has it not, Saiyan?"

"Indeed it was, worm," Belmovekk said, coughing up some more blood.

"But he still won't give you what you want," Amūn said as he hunched down next to Belmovekk, "Most likely he will kick you out of the ring once he tires of you. Not exactly the outcome that you wanted, right?"

"You have a better idea?" Belmovekk asked. To which the Goa'uld specter began to grin.

"As a matter of fact…."

x

* * *

x

"Oh my God, viewers, Cell is absolutely murdering this poor man," the reporter said, a complete nervous wreck as Belmovekk got hammered in front of their eyes, "It's this reporter's opinion that Cell could have finished this several minutes ago but he's just dragging it out to hurt his opponent."

"I told you this would happen," Bruce added, "This always happens with those featherweights. They just don't got the punching power to strike….."

"Bruce," the reporter said desperately as he turned towards him, "You have to do something! Save that poor man!"

"Who? Me?" Bruce said incredulously, "But what could I…."

"You are Earth's champion," the reporter pleaded, "You can do it! Save him!"

Not sure what to say, Bruce looked at the reporter, then at Cell smashing his opponent's face into the ring's floor. And then he swallowed.

And then it dawned upon him.

The complete and utter ugly truth.

What on Earth had he gotten himself into?

x

* * *

x

"Well, if it was his plan to get the people of Earth to call for Bruce to step in then I'd say mission complete," Daniel said deadpan, "Half the globe is now yelling for Bruce to do something."

"Maybe we should cut the signal?" O'Neill asked and looked at Sam, working feverishly behind her console.

"Still working on it, sir."

x

* * *

x

"Having fun, Saiyan?" Cell said as he dragged Belmovekk along, face first across the ring floor, leaving behind him a trail of blood and skin, "Oh, I'm having fun alright. You're lucky I was strapped for time the first time we met. Then we could have done this as well."

Belmovekk found it hard to reply, for understandable reasons as he was eating ring floor. Then Cell stopped and put him on his back.

"If you've had enough, just say it and its over," Cell remarked casually as he stood over him, "Not a hard thing to do, not at all. Just say the words."

Belmovekk didn't respond, on the account of him being to busy to pant.

"What do I hear?" Cell said as put a hand to his ear and pretended to listen very carefully, "Hurt me some more, Cell? Wow, you really are a glutton for punishment."

But Belmovekk wasn't listening to Cell. He was listening to someone else.

" _Normally I would say fight this guy,"_ Amūn's voice said, _"but if you fight Cell you give him what he wants. Unfortunately by now you have sustained too much damage to put up a good offense and he knows it too. Most likely he will see this as another ploy from your side to get him to do what you want."_

Belmovekk felt himself be picked up. But still, all he could hear was Amūn's voice whispering in its ear.

"Not very talkative huh?" Cell said rueful as he held up Belmovekk by the neck, "Don't worry, I can talk for the both of us."

As he squeezed Belmovekk's throat just enough to make it very hard to breath but not enough to suffocate him, Belmovekk's tail uncoiled itself from his waist.

"What have we here?" Cell said and took hold of the limp appendage, "A Saiyan tail? You know, I hadn't realized it but you're the only one left who still has one. I hear they can be very tender. That a kick in the nuts is preferable to getting a tail tug. Shall we find out together?"

Then Cell squeezed.

And pain seared through Belmovekk. Pain that dwarfed everything he had felt at Cell's hands so far.

x

* * *

x

"You've got to do something, Bruce!" the reporter begged, "Cell's going to kill that man."

"I, uh, but…., um," Bruce stammered lost for words. By now he knew he was hopelessly outclassed. But he couldn't say that in front of the camera. Billions of people were watching him.

Counting on him!

He couldn't just let them down.

But he also knew that he couldn't go into that ring.

For then he would suffer the same fate as that poor guy.

Desperately Bruce looked to the other side of the ring, where the others were. Why weren't they doing something? They seemed to be quite strong. Wasn't he supposed to be their friend?"

Then the man began to scream.

And not just any kind of scream. A deep guttural scream like one coming from an animal that was mortally wounded but not mortally enough to be dead right away.

"Oh, my lord," the reporter said aghast, "The humanity…."

x

* * *

x

"Buffy!"

As Buffy looked around she looked into Riley's face. And he wasn't looking happy.

"The others may be content to do nothing but we're going to do something," Riley said, obviously not very pleased with the pleasant situation.

"How?" Buffy asked, "Vegeta's going to stop anyone who's going to help him."

"He cannot stop all of us," Riley said, nodding briefly to the soldiers behind him.

"You're cra….," Buffy tried to say but Riley put his hand over her mouth and brought a finger to his own.

"Look, if Vegeta's not going to kill you, Cell will," Buffy whispered after Riley unclasped her mouth.

"That is a chance we are willing to take," Riley said determined, "He's our teacher. We owe him."

"Is this male macho bullshit talking?" Buffy asked.

"Call it what you want, but we're going in there," Riley stated matter of fact.

"Leave Vegeta to me," a new voice whispered. It was Mayan.

"I will keep my future asshole in law busy, you lot rescue our father," she said, then she tapped Buffy's chest, "Bring him back, sis…."

Then a deep guttural scream drowned out everything.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

x

* * *

x

"OH MY GOD! BRUCE, DO SOMETHING!"

x

* * *

x

The Saiyan tail is an extremely sensitive organ. One that easily makes the male testicles look robust and pain free by comparison. It's also a sensitive organ that doesn't discriminate between Saiyan men and women. It hurts like hell for everyone.

A regular Saiyan that gets squeezed in his or her tail becomes a blithering drooling wreck, unable to do anything as pain courses through their bodies. It is a weakness that they therefore do not like to share with outsiders, one that going for is outlawed in most official Saiyan competitions, grounds for immediate disqualifications.

At the same time it's a weakness that Saiyans have tried to exploit when dealing with their fellows. Each of the six martial arts disciplines have forms dealing with defense of the tail and exploiting it at the same time. Trying to negate the pain that comes from 'tail abuse' has been one of the holy grails in Saiyan martial arts.

Over time Saiyan Elites have found a way to learn to cope with the pain. It's an exercise from birth in sheer masochism, involving constant exposure of the tail to ever increasing amounts of pain. Special clamps had been devised that allowed for constant pain stimulation. Until finally the Elite could withstand the pain and still be able to function like normal.

Saiyan Elites like to think of themselves as being the only ones capable of achieving this feat. In reality however it only takes sheer determination and willpower to reach that end and the number of 'tail immunes' is far greater. Belmovekk is one of them.

But being able to withstand tail abuse of this magnitude hinges on being in both full mental and physical capacity of one self. When Krillin grabbed Nappa's tail and tried to bring him too his knees Nappa was still very much in fit mental and physical health. Thus he was able to shrug off the pain and thwart Piccolo's plan.

But when Cell squeezed Belmovekk's tail Belmovekk was already in poor physical condition. And mentally distracted. Henceforth he experienced searing pain.

But he still had enough control over his body not to become a complete blithering wreck.

When a body gets exposed to pain it triggers an instinctive reaction to end that pain. Usually that takes the shape of an involuntary reflex action. Like withdrawing a hand from a hot surface.

Trained fighters on the other hand have other kinds of reflex action, which are called muscle memory. By doing something so often certain actions become ingrained into the mind and body that they become like a reflex. That is one of the biggest reasons of training and especially the reason why so many people train until they nearly drop from exhaustion.

So when Cell squeezed Belmovekk's tail and his mind and body no longer were able to cope with the pain, his body reacted with a fight or flight reflex. It couldn't run, therefore it instinctively acted with a fight movement. And his legs began to kick, aiming straight for Cell's throat.

Cell on the other hand was also a trained fighter. Correction, he was a bred fighter with his techniques already instinctively part of his very being. The principle however was the same. When faced with a certain action happening at a speed to fast to think his battle reflexes took over. A threat was coming, it had to be dealt with.

It therefore decided to crush Belmovekk's throat.

Which was exactly what Amūn had in mind when he advised Belmovekk to let Cell grab his tail. A direct attack on Cell would trigger a conscious countermove not conducive to Belmovekk's aims. A reflex response however might trigger a reflex response in kind and give Belmovekk what he wanted.

Death.

Unfortunately both Belmovekk and Amūn had failed to take into account something else.

A third party response.

Belmovekk's leg was suddenly halted, as was Cell's hand as another hand wrapped itself around Cell's wrist.

"Enough," a third voice said calmly.

It was Goku.

x

* * *

x

 _What the fuck am I going to do?_

With the eye of the world on him in the shape of the camera man Bruce knew he had to come up with a pretty good excuse not to enter the ring. And by now he really didn't want to enter the ring.

 _What the fuck am I going to do?_

Normally this wouldn't be a problem as he tended to be pretty good with his mouth under pressure. The adlib king of professional wrestling, boxing and television. Just give Bruce a microphone and he could talk for hours.

 _What the fuck am I going to do?_

Of course this time it was different. Here there were no rules, no referees, no codes of honor, and worst of all, it was being aired live across the planet. These were stakes that Bruce was not used to. When the only thing you could lose was a match you tended to be a whole lot more cavalier about it then when your life was at stake. So suddenly, for the first time in his professional life, Bruce Schnitzengruber, the Devil's Rock, was lost for words.

 _What the fuck am I going to do?_

"Bruce, do something!" the reporter implored again.

 _What the fuck am I going to do?_

For the first time in his life Bruce was about to admit on television that he didn't know what to do, that the game was up and that he was out of his league.

"Jeremy, I….," Bruce tried to say.

And then, suddenly, like he appeared almost out of nowhere, the big blonde guy in the orange suit suddenly appeared in the ring and stopped Cell from killing that man.

It took every ounce of self control for Bruce not to break out in song and victory dance.

x

* * *

x

"Enough," Goku said calmly as he staved off Cell before he could kill Belmovekk, "You've had your fun."

For a moment Cell's eyes glared angrily at Goku, then he began to smirk.

"This fight was boring anyway," he said, then he let Belmovekk drop to the ring floor. Next thing he kicked Belmovekk out of the ring.

"Good riddance to trash," Cell said as Belmovekk landed outside the ring like a sack of potatoes. As he did most of the soldiers and the Scoobies came running up to him.

"Father, are you alright!" Mayan said worried as she was the first to arrive and knelt next to him.

"Is he alright?" Buffy asked, to which Mayan shook her head.

"Only if you define alright as in being half dead."

"That still beats being fully dead," Xander said and looked towards Krillin, "We need a senzu here, stat!"

"Let me," Willow said as she made through the soldiers, "We might need every senzu we have left later."

Willow pulled out her pouch with healing dust.

"That stuff will heal him but not restore his lost energy," Xander remarked, to which Willow let out a polite snigger.

"Puhlease, like his power is going to make any difference later."

As Willow did her magic Belmovekk began to cough and opened his eyes. Only to look in at least a dozen concerned faces. And then it dawned upon him that he was still alive.

"I am still alive?" he said cautiously, "Has Cell been defeated? Have I been restored by the Dragonballs?"

The answer came in a loud noise as in the ring Cell and Goku clashed violently.

"Goku saved your sorry ass, father," Mayan said, "and just in time."

"I see," Belmovekk said, sounding almost disappointed.

"I see?" Buffy yelled, her voice going up an octave, "That's all you have to say for yourself? I see? You were letting yourself get killed and all you say is I see?"

Then Buffy began to kick Belmovekk.

Repeatedly.

Viciously.

Violently.

"What the…," Belmovekk tried to say as Buffy really began to do a number on him.

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, YOU IDIOT!" Buffy yelled angrily, "You could have been killed! What about us! Mother? The Twins? Mayan? Me? And all you have to say for yourself is I see?"

With no signs of her letting up Xander and Mayan took Buffy by her arms and dragged her away, which allowed Belmovekk to sit up.

"Satiya, are you alright?" Jamison asked worried, but Belmovekk didn't reply. Instead he put his hands in his neck and stared ahead into infinity.

"You know," Willow said to him as she stood up, "That was not nice! Not nice at all!


	35. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter 20**

' **Bangers 'n Mash'**

x

x

AN: _Plotbunny derailment time is over. For now. ;)_

x

Guest: Maybe I will change it.

Or maybe not!

Just kidding.

Or am I?

x

* * *

x

C-hour+20 minutes

x

"Well dear viewers. The first fighter to be beaten by Cell has been kicked out of the ring and a new contender has taken his place. And even though Bruce should have been up next he's graciously decided to let it slide."

"That's right, Jeremy," Bruce said on television screens across the world, "I figure this guy's an amateur just like the other guy. If this were Ultimate Smackdown I'd have him out in two seconds. So who knows, maybe he'll last five against Cell. Haha!"

"Arrogant moron!" O'Neill muttered annoyed at the big screen at the SGC, "I should have hellfired your sorry ass when I had the chance."

"I'm not so sure any more," Daniel said pointing to the screen, "He may talk the talk, but I think I see fear in his eyes. I think he knows he's out of his league here but he doesn't know how to get out of this without losing face."

"Bah, you're an optimist," O'Neill snorted in disgust, "Always seeing the good side in people."

x

* * *

x

"Let's go."

With those two words Cell and Goku crashed into each other. Clash of the titans!

Swinging his leg for Cell's head, Cell blocked it easily with his left arm, then caught Goku's fist with the other. Next thing Cell counter attacked with a swipe for Goku's head which he ducked. Then the two fighters disengaged and Cell made half a dozen leaps backwards before launching himself forward at breakneck speed towards Goku.

Crossing both arms in front of him Goku blocked Cell's headbutt, then he fell on his back and kicked Cell into the air. As Cell flew upwards in the sky Goku went after him, cupping his hands along his side in the process.

"KA!"

"ME!"

"HA!"

"ME!"

"HA!"

A massive beam of blue energy shot towards Cell. But the organic android swatted Goku's energy attack away and into the sky where it disappeared.

But as he did he failed to spot Goku coming in from behind and drive his elbow into his neck, followed up by a direct punch straight into his lower back. That only served to make Cell angry as he lashed out and this time his fist came to a stop against Goku's face, sending the Saiyan on a slow fall back to the ring, which then got accelerated by a double fisted strike.

As the Saiyan plummeted downwards he almost hit the ring floor with his back but managed to turn around at the last second, landing like a cat on all fours. Just in time to see Cell touch down flawlessly at the other end of the ring. Then Goku got up and the two fighters stared at each other and smiled.

"Well, that should do for a warming up."

x

* * *

x

HOLY CRAP!

As the two fighter performed the most outrageous and breathtaking fight ever caught on camera Bruce's jaw nearly hit the floor.

 _This guy is good!_

Soon followed by another thought.

 _Maybe he can finish off Cell for me and…._

"Bruce? Bruce?" a voice intruded rudely on Bruce's thinking. To his credit Bruce didn't bat an eyelid.

"Yes, Jeremy?"

"This guy, Bruce, did I see it right? He seems to be quite good actually," the reporter asked impressed, "What are your thoughts about it?"

"I have to say I'm marginally impressed," Bruce replied in a cool fashion, "He's a little better then I first thought, but let's get serious, Jeremy, he's got to be fighting on his limits though. If Cell ups the ante, which I know he can, he's going to be in big trouble."

"Ah," the reporter nodded, "I see."

x

* * *

x

Wow!

Son Goku!

A seasoned warrior indeed, Cell thought impressed, there is just no comparison with you is there? I'm privileged to be finally fighting you.

x

* * *

x

Opposite Cell Goku was feeling the same kind of elation. But it was tempered by the realization that Cell was a lot tougher then Goku had even imagined.

If I let up for once second he will kill me, Goku thought, I can only fight him at full power.

Then Goku crossed his arms in front of him.

x

* * *

x

"He's going full power," Trunks stated calmly, "Maybe now we'll see why Goku's been so cavalier these past days."

Then, before anyone else could say anything Goku's power erupted in an explosion of golden chi, blasting the entire valley and causing even Trunks, Piccolo and Vegeta to brace themselves as to not get blown away.

"So that's his true power," Vegeta said aghast as he realized that, once again, he had been outclassed. And to think Goku had not gone back into the Room of Spirit and Time a second time. Had not even finished his first time.

"Unbelievable," Trunks said impressed, "Goku is just unbelievable."

"Wow!" Krillin said exalted, "Check out that chi! And to think he hid it so well."

"My penis suddenly feels really tiny," Xander said.

x

* * *

x

In space Thor was now glued to his sensors. For what he was now measuring was scientifically impossible. Human beings should not be able to do what this Goku was currently doing. It shouldn't be!

And yet…..

x

* * *

x

"Should we be airing this?" Daniel asked as FOX NEWS now showed a Super Saiyan surrounded by golden flames of chi, "How on Earth are we going to explain this?"

"It's a trick?" O'Neill said in a fake German accent, then he looked at Sam working feverishly on her computer.

"I'm still working on it."

x

* * *

x

As everybody looked spellbound at Goku only two people weren't impressed with Goku's vulgar display of power.

One was Belmovekk, who still sat forlorn on the ground, no longer giving a damn.

The other was Gohan, who looked around surprised as everybody was impressed at his father's power.

Why is everybody so surprised, Gohan thought, I know father is doing well, but come on?

x

* * *

x

"What the hell just happened?" the FOX reporter said as he got up from the ground, several feet away from the ring thanks to Goku's eruption, "It felt like we just witnessed an explosion. And now, how do I put this, it looks like the unknown contestant is on fire?"

"It's a trick," Bruce exclaimed, "It's got to be!"

x

* * *

x

"Ha!" O'Neill exclaimed exultantly back at the SGC, "I knew he would say it!"

x

* * *

x

There was one more person who wasn't quite as impressed as the rest.

Cell.

Not that he didn't care. Or wasn't impressed.

But he just knew that he could match Goku's power.

As he balled his fists Cell began to smirk.

And then he yelled as he unleashed his own power.

x

* * *

x

"Seismometers all over Asia are reporting tremors coming from Afghanistan," an enlisted man monitoring a different computer called out in the SGC command room.

x

* * *

x

In space Thor now really wished that he had brought the whole Asgard fleet with him. Maybe there _were_ bigger fish to fry then the Replicators after all. What utter power!

x

* * *

x

After Cell's Valley had again erupted in a massive explosion of chi, Bruce and the FOX NEWS team now found themselves even further from the ring then before.

"The same thing happened to Cell," the reporter said with eyes wide as saucers, "Only his flames are silver, not gold."

"It's a simple parlor trick," Bruce said calmly, "Anyone can do it!"

But underneath that calm Bruce was going apeshit.

 _Please let that blonde guy win! Please let that blonde guy win! Please let that blonde guy win!_

x

* * *

x

Slowly Goku walked towards Cell, until he stood right in front of him. Then the two fighters looked each other right in the eyes.

"Do it," Cell stated matter of fact.

"Okay," Goku replied. Then he lashed out and punched Cell right where his stomach would have been if he had one. After all, no one knew for sure. Next thing Cell doubled over and Goku followed it up with an elbow strike between Cell's shoulder blades and then a kick to the head which sent Cell flying into the air. But before Cell was launched in the air another punch from Goku sent him flying across the ring instead.

Like a rock being thrown across a pond Cell bounced a couple of times across the surface of the ring before coming to a deadstop right before the ring's edge. Hanging upside down in the air Cell began to grin with excitement, then he wiped some purple blood away from his mouth.

"Yes!" he said excited, "This is how it should be! Well done, Son Goku. Unless you are pushed to your limits there can be no good fight."

From the other side of the ring Goku began to sport a very Saiyan like battle smirk.

"Yeah, I agree," Goku smirked.

x

* * *

x

"Is there something wrong with the television?" Larry said back in Larry's bar in Sunnydale as he banged the TV remote a couple of times on the bar counter, "It looked so blurred."

"There's nothing wrong with your TV, moron," Spike said rueful, "They're just moving too fast for the camera to follow."

"Nobody can move that fast," Larry said annoyed at Spike's flippancy, causing Spike to glare at Larry.

"Are you from some alternate reality Sunnydale?" the bleached vampire asked, "Have you even lived in the same place I did? The Hellmouth making you extra stupid or something?"

x

* * *

x

Cell slowly turned round his axis until he was upright again, then he touched down on the ring again. Meanwhile the FOX NEWS reporter looked at his camera man.

"Tell me you got that?" he asked excited, "Please tell me you did!"

"Don't be ridiculous?" the camera man protested, "D'you have any idea how fast that was? Maybe if we had the other camera still, but with this…."

"I see," the reporter swallowed as he realized that the fight had indeed been extremely fast. Way faster then was humanly possible. Then he turned to Bruce and pointed his microphone towards him.

"Wow, Bruce, that was incredibly fast, was it not?"

"Oh yeah," Bruce said quickly, then he put on a brave face, "This fight is full of surprises. It's got more twists and turns then Wrestlemania VIII did."

x

x

"Are you going to sit there and brood?" Buffy asked as she approached Belmovekk, who still sat on the same spot on the ground, staring ahead, eyes to infinity.

"What is the point?" Belmovekk said in a defeated tone of voice, "I failed."

"Doing what?" Buffy said chiding, "Getting yourself killed? You still haven't told me why you were even doing such a stupid thing."

"It's complicated," Belmovekk replied without looking up.

"Oh, I have no doubt that it's complicated," Buffy snorted, "Nothing with you is ever simple. So I'm not getting an answer huh? Big surprise there. Aren't you at least going to watch Goku's fight then? The Vegetable's grinding his teeth into fine powder because he's that jealous."

"Why bother?" Belmovekk sighed dejected, "Goku's not going to win either."

"How do you know?" Buffy retorted.

"Because I know what he is up to," Belmovekk replied sullen.

"Well care to tell me then?" Buffy asked and held up her arms, "For once it wouldn't hurt to know."

For the first time Belmovekk looked up and looked right at her.

"That might actually ruin his plan. Now that my plan has failed everything now hinges on his."

x

* * *

x

After he had stared for a sufficient amount of time at Goku Cell then leaned forward as he cupped both hands at his side.

Then he began to speak fateful words.

"KA!"

x

* * *

x

"Gak," Krillin swallowed as he realized what he was about to witness, "He's at full power! What's he up to?"

x

* * *

x

"ME!"

x

* * *

x

"This is interesting," Thor said as he leaned forward to study this new data coming in from the fight below on Earth.

x

* * *

x

"HA!"

x

* * *

x

"STOP IT!" Goku yelled frantically, "WHEN YOU'RE AT THAT KIND OF POWER YOU'LL DESTROY THE EARTH!"

Cell showed no sign of caring as he continued to gather in energy.

"ME!"

x

* * *

x

"H-he's going to…." Vegeta said both aghast at the awesome display of power in front of him and his own inability to do something about it.

x

* * *

x

On TV screens all across the Earth the bright blue light coming from Cell's hands was now so bright it illuminated whole rooms. And in Larry's bar people watched with bated breath what would happen next. Except for Spike who waved towards Larry to bring him another beer. After all, it might be his last.

Unfortunately for Spike Larry was as spellbound as everybody else.

"Bollocks to this!" Spike said as he reached over the bar counter and nabbed himself a bottle of beer, "There's no way I'm going out without a cold one."

x

* * *

x

The crackle of Cell's charged Kamehameha wave could be heard by everybody at the Cell Games.

"DON'T DO IT CELL!" Goku yelled, but Cell was unimpressed.

"HA!" Cell yelled and brought forward his hands towards Goku.

"I'M UP HERE, CELL!" Goku yelled as he took to the air as fast as he could. Which ultimately meant Cell's attack veered upwards at the last possible moment, going just a couple of feet over the heads of the other Z-fighters, causing Belmovekk to briefly look up as the attack nearly went over his head, then it shot up straight into the sky and went straight for Goku.

Unable to get out of the way the massive attack hit Goku straight on and pushed him right up, towards the stratosphere. Then Goku brought two fingers to his forehead and vanished out of harm's way.

He re-appeared right behind Cell, still pouring energy into the attack and controlling the direction of the Kamehameha wave.

"What the….," Cell said surprised as he noticed that Goku was suddenly behind him. But before he could do anything about it Goku hit him with a roundhouse kick that sent Cell spinning backwards, bouncing once before coming to a stop.

x

* * *

x

The huge Kamehameha wave now sped through the upper atmosphere into space, passing the Beliskner II just a hundred miles away, which in cosmological distance was within a hair's breath.

While Thor's ship was safe and its commander shaken but still in the race, the USAF Enterprise wasn't so lucky. With Cell no longer in control of the Kamehameha wave it veered aimlessly through space and its energy began to disperse across an ever increasing greater area.

The Beliskner II wasn't the only space ship in orbit over Afghanistan. Also present was the USAF Enterprise, former Pride of Amūn and currently the only space battlecruiser in active duty that the SGC currently still had in orbit after the unfortunate demise of the USAF Prometheus. The only other ship was another Ha'tak captured by Belmovekk and the others from Anubis but she was currently in orbit around the Alpha Site.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about the Enterprise.

x

* * *

x

Like almost everybody else the crew of the Enterprise had been watching the Cell Games on television when suddenly the alarms went off.

"Massive energy wave coming in," the sensor operator called out from behind her sensor suite, causing the captain to bring up her data feed on his own console.

"Where the hell did this come from?" he said shocked, then it dawned upon him, "Good god! Cell! Raise shields! Evasive actions! And fa…."

By that time however it was too late for evasive maneuvers as the Kamehameha wave was now dispersing over an area so wide that a simple evasive move made no difference. So not only did it hit the Enterprise, it also hit at least half a dozen commercial and military satellites that were also in the area.

Among those was a KH-12 Improved Crystal spy satellite that the SGC used to monitor the Cell Games in addition to the Predator drones. Which in itself was a great loss.

Of course the disaster that befell the Enterprise was an even greater disaster.

The Enterprise crew did manage to raise its shields in time but no shield made by man, Goa'uld or even Asgard, could cope with the power of a blast capable of blowing up an entire planet. Let alone many times over. Within two seconds the Enterprise's shields were overwhelmed and the shield generator collapsed.

At this point in time Cell was no longer controlling the Kamehameha wave and as a result the deadly energy was dispersing at an ever more rapidly increasing rate by the millisecond. So in that sense the Enterprise was lucky.

Of course luck is something that is relative. If you define luck as surviving getting hit by a truck that would be lucky, even though it might still mean you had to spent the rest of your life paralyzed in a wheelchair from the neck down.

In the case of the Enterprise luck meant the ship wasn't destroyed. But as the force of the Kamehameha wave, reduced by its increasing field dispersion and weakened by the collapsing shields, tore into the ship, it reduced the mighty Ha'tak into a wreck. The outer decks crumpled and were torn away, reducing much of the inner structure to hard vacuum.

Goa'uld ships follow different designs from Earth ships like the Prometheus. Because Earth's ship designers actually cared about things like crew survivability among other things. Another part had to do with limited ship building resources so things like having lots of compartmentalization was something that might help a ship survive to fight another day. Which was why the Prometheus, despite being heavily damaged, had managed to limp back to Area 52 for repairs.

The Goa'uld on the other hand cared very little about crew and ship survivability. They had plenty of ships and the means to construct them. While a ship needed to be durable enough to stand up to punishment in battle, once she had been mortally damaged the only thing the Goa'uld cared about was for the actual Goa'uld commander aboard the damaged ship (usually themselves) to survive long enough to gate to another ship or to safety. This meant that the only compartmentalization they cared about was around the ship's engines and central core, which was usually where the commanding Goa'uld would reside.

So as the Kamehameha wave tore into the Enterprise and exposed much of its inner structure to hard vacuum more then half of her crew drew the short straw and died.

After the Kamehameha wave had passed the survivors on board the Enterprise tried to make sense of what had happened.

"Damage report!" the captain yelled to his bridge officers.

"Weapons are gone, sir,, the weapons officer said, then he looked around in horror at his captain, "So are the fighter and shuttle bays."

"Sensors are gone, sir," the sensor operator said, "We're completely blind."

"I'm getting life support collapse on the entire outer ring," another operator called, "Including sick bay and crew quarters."

"Engineering reports that the engines are gone and that we'll have imminent reactor meltdown in five minutes," another operator said, "They advise that we shut down the reactor now or risk blowing up the ship."

The captain thought things over for a moment, then he turned to one of the bridge officers.

"Show me the affected areas on screen," he said.

A diagram of the Enterprise appeared on screen, with almost three-quarters of the ship glowing in red.

"Are those affected areas?" he asked the XO, who was reading one of the screens.

"I think those are gone, sir," the XO replied, then he faced the captain, "I think the ship's a goner and that we should evacuate what's left of the crew before we go down with her."

The captain brought up the damage reports on his own personal screen next to him and briefly studied them.

"There could be people still alive out there in the outer structure," he said, "if we evacuate now we would leave them behind."

"We have to shut down the reactor in less then four minutes, sir," the XO said calmly, "If that happens we lose all remaining life support. Anyone alive in the outer structure would then die as well. We won't be able to mount a rescue effort before then. We won't be able to mount any rescue effort because the shuttle is gone as well. All we can do is evacuate those that we can through the Stargate."

"Maybe I can be of help?" a new voice said. As everybody turned around they saw a holographic Thor in his command chair on the bridge.

"Pardon my intrusion," Thor said politely, "but my sensors can detect anyone aboard your vessel and I can teleport you all to safety."

"If we take up his offer we can shutdown the reactor," the XO said to the captain, "There might even be a slim chance to salvage the ship in the future. At the very least salvage her for spare parts to keep the other Ha'tak going."

The captain thought it over briefly.

"Make it so."

x

* * *

x

As Cell came to a stop he glared angrily towards Goku, but the Saiyan stared back at him without flinching, feeling some pretty big righteous indignation as well.

"I think I pissed my pants," somebody said shaken among the onlookers.

"There is no way that Kamehameha should have missed," Cell said not pleased, "You and the other Saiyan pulled this stunt before, appearing and disappearing all over the place."

"We can teleport," Goku stated matter of fact, "It's called instant transmission."

"Instant transmission," Cell said as he took stock of this information, "What a disgustingly annoying technique."

"Now here's something I want to ask too," Goku asked, "If I hadn't jumped into the air would you still have shot that Kamehameha and blown up the Earth?"

Cell looked away briefly as he pretended to think.

"I don't know," he finally said, then he began to smirk again, "But I knew you would have no choice but to take to the air. Anything else would result in the Earth being destroyed."

After hearing Cell's little revelation Goku began to smirk as well.

"I see," he said, "You're pretty smart as well."

"But to answer your question," Cell continued, "I would destroy the Earth in a heartbeat. And all it would cost me is just a little fun."

x

* * *

x

"I guess we were lucky," Major Carter said as she studied her computer screen, "We really dodged the bullet there."

"What bullet?" O'Neill said incredulously, "The Enterprise's a goner, more then three hundred people are dead. And she was the only operational ship we had left in the solar system."

"Except for the one at the Alpha Site," Daniel countered.

"Which isn't operational yet," O'Neill countered back, "which has to travel through space held by Anubis to get here. Which won't get here in time. Do I need to go on?"

"It could still be a lot worse, sir," Sam said as she pointed to the data on her screen, "That blast was big enough to blow up the Earth. In fact it was big enough to blow up pretty much every planet in this solar system, barring perhaps Jupiter. If Goku hadn't deflected that thing into space we'd be playing harps in the clouds right now."

x

* * *

x

Goku looked disheartened to hear Cell's cavalier disregard in regards to the Earth's safety.

Then Cell suddenly launched himself at Goku and before the Saiyan could respond Cell drove his elbow into Goku's face. The Saiyan counterattack with a punch aimed at Cell's face but Cell ducked just at the last moment and as Goku sailed past him he struck him with his elbow between the shoulder blades.

Goku went down on all fours but launched himself with great speed into the air. But as he looked around for Cell he found no sign of the creature. Which could only mean that…..

As he looked over his shoulder Goku saw Cell, then Cell struck out and hit Goku so hard he plummeted back to the ground. Landing on his back Goku jumped to his feet and remained in a low squatted position.

Then ghost images of Cell began to appear around Goku as the thing moved around Goku with near impossible speed.

"You know, I may not be able to do your Instant Transmission," Cell's voice said smug, "But I like to think I've got some pretty good speed of my own as well."

Next thing Cell's fist smashed into Goku's face and the Saiyan staggered backwards as he seemed to be reeling from the blow. Cell then stopped moving and appeared in front of Goku and followed up his previous punch with another.

Only this time Goku was prepared for it, his earlier staggering a ruse, as he evaded Cell's blow, fell on his back and kicked Cell with both feet into the air. He then jumped around, brought two fingers to his forehead and winked out of existence.

Re-appearing above Cell who seemed still focused on looking to the ring below him, growing rapidly smaller, Goku struck towards Cell's back.

Only now it was he was tricked by a ruse as Cell used his speed to evade the punch and move around Goku instead. And just at the last millisecond Goku dropped just enough to barely avoid a two handed blow to his stomach. He still got hit but only dropped a few feet as a result.

Then both fighters paused again as they floated high in the sky above Cell's Valley.

x

* * *

x

"W-where did they go?" Bruce and the reporter said as they looked around and saw no trace of the two fighters.

Meanwhile the others had their eyes on the sky.

"They're moving so fast," Jamison said to Riley as he tried to track the two fighters in the sky, "I think we're pretty much outclassed here."

"So were we at the Battle of Sunnydale," Riley replied calmly, "We still played our part."

x

* * *

x

"Not bad, not bad at all," Cell said very much impressed as the two fighters halted high in the air over Cell's Valley, "I'd honestly didn't think I would have this much fun."

"Glad to be of help," Goku replied with a look on his face that said that he enjoyed the fight as well. Then Cell's face turned serious.

"I think it would be a shame if this fight were to end just because one of us gets knocked out of the ring don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" Goku asked puzzled. Then Cell aimed his hand at the ring.

"Let us remove this annoying little clause from the rulebook, shall we? It has no real meaning for two such as we anyway."

"What?" Goku said shocked, "What are you planning on do….."

Then Goku looked at the ring far below him and he finally realized what Cell was going to do.

"EVERYBODY! GET AWAY FROM THE RING!"

x

* * *

x

Below beside the ring they could only barely hear Goku's voice. But what they could notice was the build up of deadly energy from Cell.

"Fuck!" Vegeta said as he realized Cell's intent.

"Everybody, get the hell out of here," Piccolo yelled.

"Let's go and brood somewhere else, daddy dearest," Mayan said as she and Buffy both grabbed Belmovekk.

x

* * *

x

Firing off a mighty blast Cell sent a whopper of deadly energy towards the ring, which blew up less then a second late

DOOM!

Dust and debris were flung in the air and pelted everybody and everything in the area. Including the forward observers that still lined the hills and mountains of Cell's Valley.

But as the dust settled it remained to be seen if it could still be called Cell's Valley. Cause the ring that had stood at its centre was no more. In fact it was now a giant crater instead.

x

* * *

x

"That was close," Krillin panted as he looked at the giant crater that used to be the ring. They had relocated to the slopes of one of the ridges that walled off the valley.

Not that far from them Bruce and the news team found themselves suddenly on the ridge as well, courtesy of Android #16 who had grabbed them and taken them to safety.

"I am sorry but I could not rescue your driver," the big android said mournfully, "But I could not locate him in time. There is a 43% probability though that he has run away beforehand though."

"Uh, t-thank you?" the reporter said uncomfortably and not really interested in what happened to their driver.

"You should leave," Android #16 said as he got up, "You're getting in the way."

Then the android turned around and walked away.

"We can't do that!" the reporter yelled after the departing android, "Bruce still has to fight!"

Unseen to the reporter Bruce gulped big time.

 _What the hell had he gotten himself into?_

Still, he'd die before admitting that he was in over his head.

"Right?" the reporter said as he turned towards Bruce.

"Of course!" Bruce said loudly and brazenly, then he pointed further to further up the ridge, "But why not go up there so we can have a better view of this fight!"

"Good thinking," the reporter said, "Bruce, what just happened?"

"Isn't it obvious, Jeremy," Bruce said plucky, "Cell still had explosives planted in this valley. He obviously fears me so he used them to blow up the ring. But a fighter like me doesn't need a ring. He obviously hasn't seen my fight in Ultimate Smackdown III which almost completely happened outside of the ring."

x

* * *

x

Slowly Goku and Cell touched down somewhere in the valley.

"Now the whole Earth's our ring," Cell said smirking, "And it will only end when one of us will admit defeat. Or dies."

"I see," Goku said back, slowly sporting an excited grin, "So you want this to go all the way."

"Well then?" Cell said as he gestured around him, "Shall we make use of all of this new found expanse?"

x

* * *

x

For a while FOX NEWS had lost the signal coming from their news team, causing a lot of wild speculation, then much to a certain colonel's displeasure it returned, although in a more grainy picture quality.

"Viewers, I am standing here with our hero, Bruce at the edge of Cell's Valley. The fight between Cell and the mysterious stranger continues after Cell has blown up his own ring. And with it the rule that anyone who falls out of the ring loses. But Bruce doesn't care. He's told us that ring or no ring, he will see this through to the end!"

x

* * *

x

"Carter, cut that damn signal!" O'Neill said to Sam, who worked feverishly at her computer.

"I'm working on it, sir," she said hurriedly.

x

* * *

x

In Larry's bar the announcement was greeted with more enthusiasm.

Amidst shouts of encouragement Spike again found himself the lone figure of reason. It was not something he was used too. But at this point in time and space he was used to it and just held up an empty beer bottle towards Larry to signal he wanted a new one.

x

* * *

x

"I give up," Buffy said towards Mayan as she pointed towards Belmovekk, who again sat disinterested on the slope of the ridge they had taken him to, "I'm not getting through his funk. In fact the only thing that might get through is a bottle of alcohol. To hit him with on his head."

"Father," Mayan said as she hunched in front of Belmovekk, "Can you hear me!"

Belmovekk didn't respond as he just kept staring into infinity.

"Dammit father, listen up!" Mayan said irritated, then she stood and struck him in face with her open hand.

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

"I could have done that," Buffy said impressed. It also seemed to have gotten Belmovekk's attention as he looked up towards Mayan.

"Snap out of it father," Mayan said rebuking.

"What is the point?" the Saiyan said sullenly, "My plan failed. We are now in the hands of Goku's plan."

"See?" Buffy said towards Mayan, "There's no getting through to him."

x

* * *

x

THOOM!

Firing off a blast of energy Cell attacked where Goku had been standing. The Saiyan however took to the air, in response to which Cell fired off a series of blast to catch his opponent.

Goku managed to avoid them as a series of explosions followed in his wake. Finally fed up with this chase Goku rose vertically into the air and cupped his hands by his side.

"KA!"

"ME!"

"HA!"

x

* * *

x

"What is that idiot up too?" Vegeta said as he noticed the build up of deadly energy amidst Goku's hands.

x

* * *

x

"Hahahaha!" Cell laughed defiantly at Goku's power build-up, "You won't dare firing a Kamehameha from up there. You would blow up the Earth. The one you care so much about."

x

* * *

x

As Buffy watched at Goku's power build-up Mayan kneeled in front of her father.

"Listen father," she said in a calm tone of voice, "You don't give up because your plan failed. I have lived a life of constant defeat. If I gave up every time my plans failed I would have been dead long ago. You adapt, improvise, overcome. Not now, not ever!"

Mayan then held out her hand.

"Your daughters need you, father."

x

* * *

x

"ME!" Goku said resolutely as he continued his build up of power. Which by now was reaching such high levels that the self-satisfied smirk on Cell's face faded away.

"What is he up too?"

x

* * *

x

"It's a Kamehameha!" Piccolo yelled aghast, "That idiot is going to fire a full powered Kamehameha!"

"That would destroy the Earth," Faith said horrified, "I thought he cared."

"No, he won't," Krillin said desperately in denial, "He won't shoot with the Earth in his line of sight. Not ever!"

"It looks like he does though," Xander remarked.

x

* * *

x

"What are you up to?" Cell said wondering, "There's no way you'd ever going to shoot…."

As he looked up he saw the grim determination on Goku's face.

"I don't believe it!" Cell exclaimed.

x

* * *

x

"He's really going to do it!" Vegeta said horrified.

x

* * *

x

Suddenly, without his usual tell of bringing two fingers to his forehead, Goku disappeared without a trace.

And reappeared right before Cell on the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"HA!" Goku yelled and brought his two hands forward and aimed straight at Cell's upper torso.

DOOOM!

x

* * *

x

"Jesus!" O'Neill exclaimed as the TV signal fell away from the signal overload.

x

* * *

x

"Bugger that!" Spike exclaimed wide eyed as he put his half empty beer bottle down.

x

* * *

x

"Incredible," Thor said as he studied the data. These people kept on surprising him.

x

* * *

x

Getting hit at point-blank range with a fully powered Kamehameha was enough for Cell's head to get vaporized. So as the dust settled Cell's body without its head, arms and chitin wings, basically his lower torso, fell lifeless to the ground, leaving only a panting Goku standing on his feet.

x

* * *

x

"Yes, yes, yes!" Yamcha said excited as he saw Cell's torso fall to the ground, "He teleported at the last possible moment! Awesome, Goku! We've won, people, we've won!"

x

* * *

x

"This feels kinda…., anti-climactic?" one of the soldiers said to his comrades.

x

* * *

x

"He did it!" Buffy said excited, "Goku beat Cell!"

Her outburst caught Belmovekk's attention.

"That is not possible," the Saiyan said incredulously, "Goku never thought he could beat Cell."

"Even the best of plans can be derailed," Mayan said as she again held out her hand towards Belmovekk, "Goku adapted, improvised, overcame. Don't sit there defeated, Father. If your plan failed, come up with a new one."

x

* * *

x

"He did it! Bruce, he did it!" the reporter said to Bruce.

"Yeah, not bad," Bruce said disparaging, "Like I said, Cell wasn't that hard to beat. Too bad I didn't got the chance to do it myself. But let's be good sports and congratulate the fellow."

While outwardly Bruce was playing it cool, inwardly he was doing seven kinds of dances of joy all at once.

He was even thinking of how he should contract this unknown fighter and manage him in Hollywood and all the fight circuits. This guy could be a veritable gold mine. All he had to do was to be able to act better then Steven Seagal. And let's be honest, who couldn't?

x

* * *

x

Strange, Goku thought as he stood over Cell's corpse, why is there so much chi left in his body?

x

* * *

x

"This is not possible," Belmovekk said as he ignored Mayan's hand and got up on his own.

"Yeah, well, he did it," Buffy said back.

"Something is wrong," Belmovekk said, brought two fingers to his forehead and disappeared. The two half-sisters then looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I don't think we had this in mind, do we?"

x

* * *

x

Bulma had been watching with her parents in the living room when suddenly out of nowhere Belmovekk appeared.

"What the….," she exclaimed.

"A scouter," Belmovekk said hurried, "Quickly, give me a scouter!"

x

* * *

x

"Something is wrong," Piccolo said, "Why is Goku so hesitant?"

"Beats me," Faith said, "But if I were him I'd do seven kinds of hurt to Cell's corpse now. Dismember it, scatter it, burn its ashes. As far as I'm concerned the best time to hurt somebody is when they are do….."

Before she could finish her sentence Belmovekk appeared in front of her, and he was wearing a scouter which he immediately tapped.

"Torak's teeth!" the Saiyan exclaimed, then he yelled, "GOKU BEWARE! CELL IS REGENERATING!"

x

* * *

x

No sooner as Belmovekk issued his warning Cell's corpse began to twitch, then it jumped to its feet and stood upright.

x

* * *

x

"Crap!" Xander said horrified, "The zombie apocalypse has come!"

x

* * *

x

As Goku watched in horror Cell's body began to tremble and shake. And then a new head and upper torso sprouted from the cauterized wounds and Cell was whole again.

x

* * *

x

"Fuck this shit!" O'Neill said, eyes big as saucers, as he saw Cell regenerate on television, then he looked at Giles, "Does this happen a lot with you guys?"

"It is, um, bound to, uh, happen occasionally," the librarian replied equally bewildered.

"We're going to get assraped," O'Neill said shaken as he looked back towards the FOX NEWS feed, "We're going to get f'd up the A so hard the only choice we'll have is with or without the lube."

x

* * *

x

"Now that's an interesting ability," Spike said impressed in Larry's bar, "I wouldn't mind be able to do that myself."

Because if he could regenerate himself from the torso up he might be able to regenerate himself without all the fancy electronics that now kept him in check.

x

* * *

x

"He came back to life," the reporter said horrified as he watched Cell resurrect himself, "It's not over yet."

Bruce didn't respond as he was too busy biting in his hand to check that he wasn't dreaming. That it was just a nightmare and not god-awful reality.

x

* * *

x

The first thing Cell did after regenerating himself was wink at Goku. Then he began to flex his new body parts.

"I should have known," Goku said, angry at himself for forgetting, "You can regenerate."

"Yes, just like Piccolo," Cell said smug, "But even this would have been too much for me without the ability of Slayer healing to survive critical injuries."

"I knew it was too easy," Goku said as he assumed a fighting stance, "Still, all this fighting and regenerating cost you a lot of chi."

"Look who's talking," Cell snorted, "You're practically out of breath yourself. And just to warn you, I won't fall for a ploy like that again. So don't go wasting your time, and mine, on such useless attacks again."

"I won't," Goku said as he raised his energy and golden chi flames surrounded him again.

"Really?" Cell said as he did the same and got surrounded by silver white chi flames.

Then Goku attacked and launched himself at Cell. Punching for Cell's face, Cell evaded the attack and counter attacked with a kick which Goku blocked. Then Goku received a smack through the head and then Cell received one in kind.

Angrily Cell hit Goku with so much force he crashed into one of the ridges lining the valley. As the mountain turned into rubble and collapsed on top of Goku, Cell went after him and raced for Goku's mountain tomb.

But before Cell could reach his position the mountain exploded in a volcano of golden chi and Goku re-appeared. Rising into the air the Saiyan unleashed a barrage of chi blasts which he fired like a machine gun at Cell, halting the monster's advance halfway across the valley.

By itself the chi blasts weren't that dangerous. But combined and with sustained fire they could pack quite a punch and Cell had to cross his arms in front of his face to protect himself.

So as Goku sweated and panted like a fat man in a sauna he kept up his barrage, creating an explosive cloud around Cell that steadily grew until it covered half the valley.

x

* * *

x

As the reporter and camera man watched on and recorded in silent awe Bruce didn't even pretend to keep up his tough guy act. Instead he cowered like a little girl behind a large boulder.

x

* * *

x

"Good grief!" General Hammond said back at the SGC, "Is there nothing these guys can't do?"

x

* * *

x

"NNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Cell yelled as he tried to withstand the pressure of Goku's onslaught. In a way this was worse then getting Kamehameha'd up close. That one at least was mercifully quick. This was….., maddening?

"BAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Cell yelled as he stretched out his arms and legs and power erupted from him and a shield barrier was formed around him, a massive sphere of silver white energy, with crackles of lightning surrounding it. As he pushed more and more of his energy in it to withstand Goku's attack the sphere grew and grew until it encompassed half the valley.

As he hung there at the center of his sphere Cell panted as he was finally able to catch a breather. At the same time Goku gave up his attack and seized firing, also hanging there in the air panting.

"Wow," Cell said panting, "You forced me to raise my barrier. You've also hurt more then just my pride. You are indeed a worthy opponent."

x

* * *

x

"Fuck my ass!" a demon said horrified, not that far from Spike inside Larry's bar, as he watched Cell's barrier on TV, "This is like watching a goddamn Hollywood movie or something."

x

* * *

x

"Dammit!" O'Neill said as he pounded the air in frustration, "He was so close."

"He was not, O'Neill," a new voice said.

It was Teal'c, still playing nanny to Belmovekk's kids, with one sitting on his shoulders and the other one holding his hand.

"He was putting up a good fight," Teal'c said calmly, "But Goku was desperate and Cell was not. He cannot win. And by the looks of it he seems to know this."

"Then what is he up too?" Daniel asked as he resumed watching the television again.

x

* * *

x

As Goku panted heavily Cell began to smirk and powered down his shield barrier.

"You look kind of spent," Cell smirked, yet also panting, "Why not take one of your precious senzu beans? That way we can make this fight even more spectacular."

x

* * *

x

"This is our chance," Trunks said to Krillin, "Let's give Goku a senzu bean and all turn against Cell at once. It's weakened now."

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta thundered angrily, "Shut up, Trunks!"

Angrily the Saiyan prince glared at his son.

"We will do no such shameful things!" Vegeta continued, "You may be my son but you lack a Saiyan's pride. If you had any you'd know that Kakarot would rather die then win like that. He is no longer just fighting to save the Earth right now."

"But….., at this rate….," Trunks protested, but Vegeta ignored his protest.

"Yes, he'll probably get killed," Vegeta said and bowed his head, "And even though it feels like I'm swallowing glass here I have to admit it. Even though he pisses me off, and I hate his guts, I also admire him. Priya knows how hard I've trained to surpass him but he is always ahead of me. His intellect may be faulty, but there can be no denying his fighting genius. He may not be born an Elite, but he is most definitely the Elite of all Saiyan Elites."

Vegeta looked down, almost in….. shame?

"Unfortunately for him Cell isn't just one, but two steps ahead of him as well. And I now bitterly regret not having killed Cell when I had the chance."

"Wow," Krillin said impressed, "Vegeta admitting Goku's better. The world's coming to an end."

"It will, soon," Faith remarked.

"So what are you saying?" Trunks said incredulously, "That we just sit by and do nothing?"

Vegeta glared angrily at his son again.

"You yourself have talked endlessly that he must have a plan. Pin your hopes on that!"

x

* * *

x

"Come on, cat got your tongue?" Cell said taunting towards Goku, "Does your pride prevent you from taking a senzu? You've managed to cost me more of my power then I ever dreamt you would. If you come at me at full power you might actually stand a chance this time."

"Come on, I am hungering for a true challenge."

x

* * *

x

"Oh, he didn't just say that, did he?" Buffy said towards Willow, "The mother of all jinxes?"

"I think this guy eats jinxes for breakfast, Buffy," Willow said back.

x

* * *

x

"What are they doing?" a demon said in Larry's bar, "They're just looking at each other."

x

* * *

x

Goku had been staring at Cell like he was going to continue the fight. Then he suddenly began to smile and powered down, his chi flames disappearing.

"I lose," the Saiyan said smiling like it meant nothing, "I give up. I now know how strong you really are and I'm going to quit."

x

* * *

x

"What the…." Vegeta exclaimed in shock. So did just about everybody else.

All except one.

As he heard Goku's surrender plea Belmovekk bowed his head. Then he glanced at Gohan.

x

* * *

x

"What did he just say?" the reporter asked his camera man.

"It sounded like he said he was giving up," the camera man said uncertain.

Which was about the very same time Bruce's world began to fall apart.

x

* * *

x

"Giving up?" O'Neill said incredulously as he looked at Teal'c, then Daniel, then General Hammond, "Where does he think he is? Wrestlemania?"

x

* * *

x

"You do realize that once no one is left to fight in the Cell Games it is game over, right?" Cell said towards Goku, "Every last person on Earth will die."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Goku said cheerfully, "We haven't run out of fighters yet."

"Puhlease," Cell snorted, "I already trashed the other one. And while Vegeta and Trunks have improved significantly they're nowhere near as good as you are. So it's basically the same. You were the Earth's only hope."

x

* * *

x

"Bruce!" the reporter said excited, "Here's your chance. Go give that thing what it deserves!"

x

* * *

x

"Yeah, Bruce, go kick his ass," the demons inside Larry's bar cheered, again much to Spike's chagrin.

x

* * *

x

As the reporter looked at him, and so did the world through the lens of that camera, Bruce felt this was the end of the line for him. There was no escaping his fate now.

"Y-yes! I w-will strike fear into this…," Bruce said forcefully but slightly hesitantly as he stood up straight. If he was going to die on camera, then it better be a good death. A crowning moment of awesomeness.

But before he had finished what he wanted to say he got an idea and let himself collapse to the ground.

"AW, CRAP! MY STOMACH!" Bruce said feigning intense stomach pain.

"Bruce! What's wrong," the reporter asked worried.

"That curry we had in Tarin Kowt….," Bruce groaned, "I d-don't think t-that…. Ah! The pain!"

"Are you saying you're suffering from food poisoning, Bruce?" the reporter asked as Bruce rolled on the ground.

"Damn this…, infernal…, pain..,," Bruce said through gritted teeth, "I…, so…, want…, to…, fight…, Cell.., and…, I…, can…, easily…, but I.., can't right…, now!"

x

* * *

x

"No, Bruce," somebody said in Larry's bar as everybody looked defeated at the big screen. Everybody but one. And as soon as Larry saw Spike's expression he knew what to do and reached for another beer.

x

* * *

x

"Well, since I'm giving up, can I chose who gets to fight you next?" Goku asked Cell.

"This is not a joke?" Cell said gravely disappointed, "You really are going to surrender, right?"

x

* * *

x

"What's he doing?" Vegeta said shocked, "There _is_ nobody else who can defeat Cell."

"You know what he's up too," Piccolo yelled towards Belmovekk, "What's his plan?"

"You will see," Belmovekk said sullen, "Soon enough."

x

* * *

x

"This next round will probably decide the Cell Games," Goku said calmly, "Because if he can't beat you, no one can. However, after fighting you I'm pretty sure that he can."

"What?" Cell said incredulously.

"That's why I'm leaving everything up to him," Goku continued.

"Let me get this straight," Cell recapped, "You're actually telling me that there is someone here who is both stronger then you _and_ me?"

"Yup," Goku responded.

"Heh heh heh," Cell chortled, "Well, enlighten me. Tell me the name of this mysterious fighter who doesn't exist."

x

* * *

x

"He's about to say it," the camera man said, his camera and camera microphone zoomed in on the two fighters.

"He's going to say me, right," Bruce said still clutching his stomach, "Tell him I have a stomach ache and can't fight right now."

x

* * *

x

"Why do I feel like I'm watching a soap opera and they can cut out to commercial any moment?" O'Neill said back at the SGC.

x

* * *

x

Goku looked up to the ridge where the other fighters were.

"GOHAN!" Goku said cheerful and waved for his son to come down, "You're up!"

"WHAT!" Cell exclaimed in shock.

x

* * *

x

"WHAT!" Most of the other fighters exclaimed in shock as well, including and probably foremost Gohan.

"Did he just say….. Gohan?" Vegeta said in shock as he looked at Gohan.

"Is that his plan?" Piccolo yelled at Belmovekk, "He's going to send his own son out to die? Has he lost his mind?"

"You are asking me that?" the Saiyan snapped back, "How do you think I felt when I first learned of it?"

x

* * *

x

"Well?" the reporter asked his camera man.

"He said Gohan," the camera man said unsure, then he looked over his shoulder at the reporter, "Doesn't that mean rice in Japan?"

"Astonishing, dear viewers," the reporter spoke into his microphone, "What casual attitude. It might look like they're going to stop for lunch."

x

* * *

x

Goku took off and flew towards the others, landing in front of his son.

"Son," Goku said as he smiled warmly, "You can do it!"

"Me?" Gohan said incredulously, "Fight Cell?"

"Yes, Gohan," Goku nodded.

x

* * *

x

"Is he trying to make fun of me?" Cell said both flabbergasted and indignant, "Give me a break! Little Son Gohan?"

x

x

"Come to your senses, Goku," Piccolo protested, "There's no way Gohan can defeat Cell. He's grown considerably but there is Cell we're talking about. Even you couldn't defeat him."

"Piccolo, think about it," Goku said, "Gohan has more power then either of us can comprehend. He's been fighting with us ever since he was little. And keeping up with us. When I was his age I was nothing like him."

"Yeah, but even though he's a Super Saiyan, he can't have gotten this powerful this quickly," Krillin protested.

"When we were in the Room of Spirit and Time I was able to bring forth some of that power and be amazed," Goku said confidently, "But let's ask him, shall we?"

Goku turned to Gohan.

"Gohan, when you were watching me fight Cell, did you think it was too hard, or that you wouldn't be able to keep up with it?"

"Well, no," Gohan replied hesitantly, "But neither of you was fighting for real yet, right?"

Goku looked slightly surprised at Gohan's question.

"Well I don't know about Cell," he finally said, "But I was giving it everything I had. So to you it looked like I wasn't really trying, huh?"

"I don't believe it," Piccolo exclaimed, "Is that true, Gohan?"

"Yes," Gohan said as he bowed his head.

"Good god," Trunks exclaimed, "Then…, how…, strong….?"

"Impossible," Vegeta said both shocked and horrified, "How strong can that brat be?"

x

* * *

x

In the air not far from them Cell followed the conversation and began to smile. What had taken a turn for the worse was starting to look like a turn for the better after all.

x

* * *

x

"Go for it, son," Goku said encouragingly as he patted his son on the shoulder, "Go give peace back to the world. And become that scholar you've always wanted."

"Is he actually going to send his own son out to fight for him?" Mayan said incredulously.

"Yes and no," Buffy replied, "Not for him though, for the world."

Father and son briefly looked at each other.

"Alright," Gohan said, "I'll give it a try."

Before he could say anything Xander got an elbow in his side from Willow.

"I wasn't saying anything," Xander protested.

"Consider it a pre-Yoda remark elbow warning," Willow replied sternly.

"If I can't make plucky remarks, that's the point of me being here?" Xander muttered aggrieved as he rubbed his side.

Meanwhile Gohan threw off his heavy Piccolo style shoulder piece and threw it on the ground with a loud clang. Then he took towards Cell.

"Krillin, you've got the senzu beans, right?" Goku asked as he stretched out his hand, "Can I have one?"

"Sure thing, Goku," Krillin said as he handed Goku his bean. Then, to everyone's horror, instead of eating the bean Goku tossed it towards Cell.

"Here! Catch!" he said.

Cell caught the bean.

"It's a senzu bean," Goku said encouragingly, "eat it."

"Are you crazy?" Piccolo protested.

"Cell's exhausted," Goku said in earnest, "It wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise."

Piccolo wanted to say something, couldn't and instead went through a thousand different emotions and making strange strangling noises.

"Who gives a crap about fair?" Mayan protested.

"Yeah," Faith agreed, "Kick 'em when they're down, that's the best time!"

x

* * *

x

"Fool!" Cell said scornful at Goku's honorable yet foolish gesture, "Trying so hard to scare me, then don't realizing this will be your undoing. I am going to eat this and you'll regret forever giving me this."

Then Cell popped the bean in his mouth, chewed and swallowed.

"YEAH!" he said as he felt his tiredness disappear and strength flood back, "I could get used to this!"

x

* * *

x

As Cell got rejuvenated Piccolo growled angrily at Goku.

"I don't care what you were thinking, that was not just stupid, that was inexcusable."

"What?" Goku said surprised.

Meanwhile Belmovekk sat down on a boulder when Buffy came up to him.

" _This_ was his plan?" she said mystified, "This?"

"Now you understand why I was so desperate for a back up plan, young lady?" Belmovekk replied gloomily.

"Yeah, about that," Buffy said as she put her hands on her sides, "What the hell was dying going to accomplish?"

"It doesn't matter any more," Belmovekk said in a tone that didn't stood for countenance, "We are now in the hands of his plan now."

Buffy wanted to say something, but decided not to. And then, before she could say something else Gohan's power exploded.


	36. Chapter Twenty One

**Chapter 21**

' **I Might Be Wrong'**

x

x

AN: _Blah, blah, stuff keeps on getting bigger then expected, blah, blah, causing me to split things off, blah, blah._

 _But it's fun, right?_

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, Cell's Valley, time unknown

x

As Gohan's power erupted it was like another nuclear bomb going off in what used to be Cell's Valley. A detonation of chi blew over the hapless onlookers and then they were bombarded with strong winds.

And then, after the storm had passed came the calm. With Gohan standing at the center of what used to be Cell's Valley, surrounded by bright golden flames of chi.

"T-that's Gohan?" Piccolo said astounded as he watched his former pupil, "Mild mannered Gohan?"

How the hell did that brat get so powerful, Vegeta thought as he tried to pick up his jaw from the ground, I don't believe my eyes!

Sensei, what utter power you could have had, Mayan thought mournfully as she remembered her former teacher.

We are in your hands now, Gohan, Belmovekk thought, now resigned to his faith, show us why Goku has so much faith in you.

Only one person felt differently.

Poor kid, barely twelve and already he has the weight of the world on his shoulder, Buffy thought sympathetically as she now felt a connection between herself and Gohan. Just another kid who got trust into a 'save the Earth or else' kind of situation when he should have been just another kid.

It was when she was thinking that train of thought that she suddenly realized something and turned to Belmovekk.

"So that's why you and Goku kept silent?" she said in an accusing tone of voice, "Because you guys knew damn well that if you had told him Gohan would have run away screaming and Piccolo would have your guts for garters."

"Yes," Belmovekk admitted, "His plan did hinge on Gohan and everything else being kept in the dark."

"This is not right," Buffy said, "Nobody should be forced to do this, especially a kid."

"Sometimes one must commit evil acts in order to fight something more evil," Belmovekk sighed, then he looked at Buffy, "And before you continue your little preach, I have never heard you ask about all the evil things I did for you. The people I slaughtered to save you from Anubis and the Majin for example."

"I…., uh…, um…," Buffy stammered as she tried to find the right comeback and couldn't.

"Do not think Goku came to this decision lightly," Belmovekk continued, "For months he tried to come up with other strategies but could not find any. Cell is too strong for Goku to beat. His reserves of power unfathomable. The only solution he could come up with were the unfathomable reserves of power of his own son."

Buffy looked down into the valley, towards Gohan who was now facing off Cell.

"We can only hope that Goku's gamble pays off," Belmovekk said worried, "Everything I have learned about Gohan's hidden powers is that they tend to come and go with his emotions."

x

* * *

x

As Cell eyed Gohan wearily he felt a mixture of emotions. There was the excitement of testing himself against a new power. There was also anger because Goku had robbed him of what was after all a very exhilarating fight. And resentment as well.

"So Goku wasn't completely lying after all," Cell finally said, "a germ of truth in his story. But still, to say that you can beat me, that's an insult. You're just a kid. So I will kill you now."

Cell turned to the ridge.

"Do you hear me, Son Goku? Because of you your child will die! Weep when your child dies because of your arrogance!"

Cell then lowered himself and touched down on the ground. Landing behind Gohan, the child then turned around and assumed a fighting stance.

"So you really want to fight me?" Cell said scornful, "Uppity little brat, aren't you? Well, consider yourself lucky. Maybe you get to die before you get to experience true horror."

Then Cell moved with lightning fast speed and made a roundhouse kick aimed straight at Gohan's head. Which he easily blocked. Then Cell jumped back, then immediately launched himself at Gohan and swiped at the kid. But Gohan easily evaded Cell's attack by jumping into the air.

Seeing that Gohan was going up in the air Cell gave chase and tried to kick him. Which Gohan again managed to avoid. A few more failed attacks followed and the two fighters touched down again.

"Quick little rodent, aren't you," Cell said derogatory, "Maybe I should use my full speed on you instead?"

Then, going even faster then before Cell jumped onto Gohan, grabbed him by his clothes and delivered a straight headbutt into Gohan's face. Then for good measure he began to pound him in the face several times.

Eventually Cell tired of that and tossed Gohan away like he was a dirty rag. Before Gohan had a chance to fall to the ground Cell aimed his hand at him and unleashed a wave of pure chi that sent the underaged fighter flying backwards at breakneck speed into a rocky hill with so much force that it collapsed on top of him.

"Oops," Cell said with mock regret, "did I overdo it? Should I not have done that to a kid?"

x

* * *

x

"He hurt that kid," one demon exclaimed angrily in Larry's bar, "That bastard hurt a child!"

A statement which Spike found hilarious, because if there was one thing this kind of demon was known for it was preying on small kids.

x

* * *

x

"Chi Chi, be strong!" the Ox-King said as Chi Chi collapsed on the floor of the Son household living room, having just seen her son getting slapped silly by Cell and then buried in a rocky hill.

x

* * *

x

"What the hell is going on here?" the reporter spoke into his microphone in horror, "First they said they were going to eat, then a child suddenly challenged Cell and now he died? What a terrible waste of a young life!"

x

* * *

x

"That's it," General Hammond said indignant as he saw Gohan get buried underneath a hill, "I can live with Super Saiyans and energy attacks on the television but I draw the line at kids getting abused on television. Major, I order you to pull the plug on that satellite connection. And fast! Otherwise I authorize the colonel to ask Thor to blow up those satellites for us."

"Oh, can I?" O'Neill said excited, "Please? Pretty please with cherries on top?"

x

* * *

x

On top of the ridge the Z-fighters were shocked. Everyone except Goku, who just stood there with his stupid smile like it meant nothing.

"Goku, you idiot, this is all your fault! You're too optimistic! Everybody warned you this would happen," Piccolo growled angrily, then he began to yell, "YOU GOT YOUR OWN SON KILLED!"

"Calm down, Piccolo," Goku said care free, "don't jump to conclusions. Gohan's chi hasn't gone down at all."

"He's right," Faith said, "I can still sense him."

x

* * *

x

"GOKU! ENOUGH OF THIS SILLY JOKE!" Cell yelled towards where Goku stood, "Eat your damn senzu and face me once again!"

x

* * *

x

"He doesn't even know," Mayan said incredulously as she witnessed Cell making his challenge."

"Of course not," Buffy said shaking her head, "He's got an ego so big it makes Vegeta's cower in fear."

"Probably the one thing he got from Vegeta to begin with," Xander said softly, "That computer reckoned an ego that big just had to be weapons grade."

"Maybe Goku was right after all," Belmovekk said as he cupped his chin, "Interesting."

x

* * *

x

"Dumb ass, look behind you," Goku's voice came from the ridge, causing Cell to look aside.

"What the….," he exclaimed softly as he saw to his astonishment that Gohan had emerged from underneath the rubble. And aside from a few minor cuts and bruises he looked none the worse.

Walking calmly Gohan came towards Cell and halted when he was up close.

"What a surprise," Cell said, his curiosity gaining the upper hand, "You're a lot tougher then I thought."

"Can we stop this please?" Gohan suddenly asked, "This battle is pointless."

Cell had expected people to say a lot of things to him. In fact they already had. Most of his victims had pleaded for their lives, some had fought then pleaded, some had been defiant, telling him to do his worst.

None however had ever told him what he was going to do to them was pointless.

"Hahaha," Cell laughed, not believing what he was hearing, "Did you just call these games pointless? Of all the things you could have said."

Cell then leaned forward.

"Of course it's not pointless. Me, I'm getting lots of entertainment from it. I can't speak for you all but I'm sure most you are probably here to save the Earth."

"But I don't want to fight," Gohan said in earnest, "I'm not like my father. I don't want to kill anyone. Not even one such as you."

x

* * *

x

"I've got it!" Sam said triumphantly as she looked over her shoulder at O'Neill and General Hammond, "I've got full control over the commercial satellite network. I can switch things on and off at will."

"I don't know what's scarier, major," O'Neill said as he joined Sam at her computer, "That signal uninterrupted on the air or the casual ease with which you can bring down a whole satellite network."

"The sooner we shut down that network the better," General Hammond said, "the Pentagon's been screaming for it to happen, the SecDef will be pleased."

"And thus press freedom dies," Daniel said wistful, "With one press of a button military censorship will score another victory."

"The people aren't ready for this," O'Neill said determined, "Aside from people going superman on international TV nobody should have to watch a child being beaten on television."

"It's still censorship," Daniel countered, "And have you been on the internet lately? There's way worse stuff there to be found."

"Yeah, but at least that's not being aired to 6 billion viewers at the same time," O'Neill said.

"Shut it down, major," General Hammond said gravely, "Let's end this chara….."

"NO! YOU CAN'T!" somebody yelled.

It was Giles.

"What?" O'Neill said annoyed, "More of your whacked up prophecies?"

As soon as he said it Giles started to look uncomfortably.

"As a, um, matter of, um, fact…"

x

* * *

x

"What's Gohan saying?" Krillin asked on top of the ridge, "I can't make it out."

"I'm not sure," Buffy said uncertain, "something about…."

"I heard it too," Belmovekk said as he got up from the boulder he had been sitting on, "Something's wrong."

x

* * *

x

"And it shall come to pass that on the day of reckoning the Children of Grey shall fight the Flesh Golem," Giles said as he read from the print out he was holding, "Guard well Satan's Stone for he shall be instrumental in the coming of a new dawn."

"Yeah, we've heard that gibberish," O'Neill said as he rolled his eyes, "We're not trying to kill Bruce this time. We're just trying to turn off that accursed satellite signal."

"I've found another mention," Giles said and turned the print out so he could read a different page, "In the valley of poppies the fate of the world shall be decided. As the children of grey will battle the child of chaos the world shall watch. For only as the world will be allowed to watch can the children of grey be safeguarded."

O'Neill looked at General Hammond after Giles had read his passage.

"Who writes these things?" O'Neill exclaimed.

"Prophets usually," Daniel said, "That or crazy people."

"Sounds like both combined," O'Neill snorted.

"Actually, um, that's not far from the, uh, truth," Giles said, "Prophecies tend to be written by the mad very often. Something about them being a…., um, perfect conduit as it were?"

"Dr. Giles," General Hammond said, "You're telling me that I have to explain to the Secretary of Defense that I can't shut down the greatest public relations clusterfuck in the history of public relations disasters because your prophecy, no, the word of some long dead mad man, tells us not too?"

"If you put it like that everything sounds ridiculous," Joyce said as she came to Giles' defense.

"I can't put a better shine on it, ma'am," General Hammond replied, "Polish a turd and it's still a turd."

"Look," Giles said as he pointed to the print out, "I'm trained to read and interpret these things. All Watchers are. The lives of our Slayers depend on us being able to correctly interpret signs, dreams and portents. Considering that the Earth is still here and has not been sucked into some Hell dimension over these past thousands of years I'd say we haven't done such a bad job after all."

"Well, to be fair, sir, the only reason we first learned of the Asgard was because Daniel interpreted ancient religions," Sam interjected.

"Don't tell me you believe this nonsense?" O'Neill asked Sam.

"Sir, with all due respect," Sam said back, "It _is_ his job. We don't question Daniel on his. Or even our own intelligence analysts."

"I don't believe we're again going to listen to this mumbo jumbo," O'Neill said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't just tell the Secretary of Defence we're not going to shut down this broadcast," General Hammond said as he pointed to the big screen with the FOX NEWS feed, "Not on the basis of some ancient prophecy that is."

"Well, we could always say that Sam's still working on it," Daniel said as he winked towards Sam, "Or that her computer crashed?"

"Yeah," O'Neill said as he rolled his eyes, "Just tell him that her computer's running on Windows Millennium. Maybe you're lucky and his own computer runs on Millennium too and he'll buy it."

x

* * *

x

"Are you some sort of pacifist or something?" Cell said astonished, "You do realize that pacifism is cowardice, right? Somebody who wants to enjoy all the benefits of the society he lives in but none of the responsibility of defending it."

"I don't care," Gohan said shaking his head.

"Okay, so you don't like to fight," Cell said, "I can understand that. But what's this nonsense about not wanting to kill me? You couldn't even kill me even if you tried for a hundred years. Am I wrong, child?"

Cell put a lot of vitriolic emphasis on the word child. But if it was meant to hurt Gohan, it didn't seem to phase him.

"I think I finally understand why dad said that only I could defeat you," Gohan said unperturbed, "Ever since I was a little kid when I got really angry I would lose control of myself and get way stronger then I ever could imagine."

Gohan paused briefly and looked down.

"I think this is what my father was hoping for would happen."

Cell stopped smirking and began to stare at Gohan intently.

"Oh really?" he said interested, then he smirked again, "I guess your plan failed then, kiddo."

"Huh?" Gohan asked surprised.

"You really have no clue how I work, do you kid?" Cell said derisive, "If you thought you could tell me a story like that to scare me away you're mistaken. Now I _really_ want to piss you off just so I can see that power for myself."

Then before Gohan had a clue Cell lashed out and smashed his fist into his face.

x

* * *

x

"By the Seven Hells!" a demon said horrified back at Larry's bar, "He's hitting that poor kid again!"

"Curses to whoever sold Bruce that bad food," another demon said angry, "Then he would really show Cell who's boss."

x

* * *

x

"They're at it again," O'Neill said as he saw Cell attack Gohan again on FOX NEWS.

"Don't pull that plug, general," Giles said adamantly, "I'm staking my professional reputation on this."

General Hammond looked at O'Neill.

"This is your call, general," O'Neill said as he put up his hands in a hands off gesture, "I'm not going to get burned on this one."

General Hammond then looked at the big screen and more scenes of Gohan getting hammered.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Giles," he finally said, "I can't lie to the Secretary of Defense that we are unable to shut this down. I've already kept it going for way to long as it is."

Then Joyce stepped forward and came up to Sam.

"That computer, is that your own, or is it a network terminal?" she asked.

"It's got network access, but it's my o…..," Sam tried to say, but then Joyce threw a glass of water over Sam's computer. Which then showed the dreaded blue screen of death, followed by smoke coming out of its back.

"There," she said as she put down the glass, "Now you don't have to lie, general."

x

* * *

x

WOK!

As Cell smashed his elbow on the back of Gohan's head the little fighter staggered backwards reeling from the pain. But Cell didn't give him the time to recover as he followed up with a roundhouse kick that sent Gohan flying backwards.

"YES!" Cell shouted excited as he jumped after him, "Come on, kid, get mad! Show me your true power!"

As Cell approached him Gohan touched down. Then, as Cell punched towards him, Gohan jumped upwards and delivered a roundhouse kick of his own, which sent the creature flat on his back.

x

* * *

x

"Nice move, kid," Spike said appreciatively as he sipped from his beer.

x

* * *

x

As he crawled up from the ground Cell eyed Gohan wearily. Of course Gohan stared wearily back at him. Then Cell touched his mouth and noticed that he was bleeding purple blood.

As he stared at the blood on his thumb Cell realized that Goku and the kid were right. There _were_ hidden reserves of power in this kid. Somehow this kid had managed to hurt him and he had only barely scratched the surface.

Then he smirked again. Now that he had had a taste he wanted to see what more this kid could do. No matter the cost.

"One way or another kid, I'm gonna bring out the real you."

x

* * *

x

On top of the ridge Goku watched as Cell tried to bring out 'the real Gohan'.

Yes, way to go Cell. You keep on doing that! Get Gohan mad! And then you'll experience fear for the first time.

Then as he watched he saw Cell aim his arm at Gohan and point his index finger at him.

x

* * *

x

"What are they doing now?" the reporter asked Bruce as they watched from a distance.

"It looks like he's singling out the kid," Bruce said, as he recognized the gesture from his wrestling days, "Like he's saying that this time it's personal."

x

* * *

x

By now Krillin had the sad distinction of having died twice. The first time he had been murdered by Piccolo the Elder. A gruesome death but despite that it wasn't the one that still gave him nightmares on a regular basis.

It was his death at the hands of Freeza that still haunted Krillin. Made him scream at night as he awoke from his nightmares. They usually followed the same pattern, with the horned tyrant always chasing him, then torturing him followed by a gruesome death that always resembled his death on planet Namek, like an explosive charge exploded deep inside him.

Normally he detested his nightmares. He had tried seeking psychological council but found that psychology wasn't so effective when you came with a true but totally unbelievable story to a psychologist. Having barely escaped getting committed to a mental institution Krillin resigned himself to his nightmares.

But now they paid off as he recognized the attack that Cell was about to unleash next.

"GOHAN, BE CAREFUL!" he yelled, "HE'S USING FREEZA'S LANCING ATTACK!"

x

x

As soon as Gohan heard Krillin's warning Cell fired Freeza's Lancing Attack from his finger and a beam of intensely concentrated energy lanced towards Gohan. Which he just barely managed to evade by letting himself fall on his back.

Next thing he had to get back on his feet real quick because Cell fired off several more lancing attacks that had Gohan dancing about like he was in a old fashioned western movie and the villain was shooting bullets near his feet. Only this case it was less of a dance and more a deadly ballet as Cell fired off his attacks all over the place.

The reason for this deadly bout of acrobatics was simple. Where most energy attacks wasted a lot of energy by exploding into all directions only two attacks really differed.

First was the Kienzan or destructo disc. Which was an energy attack that was flattened to such an extend that it became a flat disc. Instead of exploding it cut by virtue of concentrating all deadly energy at its razor sharp edge. And what made it really dangerous was that a weaker opponent could use the Kienzan to slice through or cut a stronger opponent. Which made it a very cool and dangerous attack in the hands of a skilled fighter, some of whom could even control the Kienzan in flight remotely. The downside was that a skilled fighter could also easily defeat a Kienzan by punching through the center of the disc, which was were it was essentially harmless.

Freeza's Lancing Attack was similar in idea yet completely different in execution. It concentrated all of its deadly power at the tip of a very narrow beam which would then pierce through an enemy like a spear. Unlike the Kienzan disc there was no defense against the lancing attack. No defense other then not get hit. On the plus side its range was shorter and there was no means of changing the path of a beam other then firing off a new one.

Which was what Cell was repeatedly doing.

Evading Cell's barrage of lancing attacks took every ounce of concentration from Gohan. So when Cell suddenly moved with lightning fast speed after firing yet another beam Gohan didn't notice it until it was too late.

Right in the middle of a jump Cell suddenly appeared up close next to Gohan and grabbed him. Drawing him in tight in a bear hug Cell then proceeded to squeeze Gohan for everything that he was worth.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Gohan yelled as he felt immense pressure squeezing him like he was just a clove of garlic about to meet a garlic press.

"Well, doesn't this hurt?" Cell said condescending, "Get angry! Unleash that rage of yours. You don't want to die do you?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! IT HURTS!" was all that came out of Gohan.

"Oh," Cell said pretending to be sorry, "Does this hurt? You know I could break every bone in your body if I wanted too. Surely you don't hate fighting this much that you would rather suffer this?"

x

* * *

x

"Christ, I can't bear to watch this," O'Neill said as he put his hand across his face. And yet he couldn't stop watching as he peeked through his fingers.

x

* * *

x

"This is horrible," Mayan said aghast as she watch Gohan being squeezed, "Why are we letting this happen?"

"Because its Captain Crunch's master plan?" Buffy said as she nodded towards Goku.

"I can't stand this no more," Piccolo suddenly yelled angry, "I no longer care about your plan anymore, Goku, I'm going down there to help Gohan!"

"Don't do it, Piccolo," Goku said shaking his head, "You're no match for Cell. Just have faith. Wait a little longer."

"You want me to wait? For what?" Piccolo spat angrily, "For Gohan to die?"

"No," Goku said calmly, "For Gohan to get mad. Once that happens rage will unleash his true power. Then we'll see something."

Goku then bowed his head as his son continued to yell in pain. As Gohan yelled Goku briefly gnashed his teeth, indicating it wasn't easy for him as well.

"Our only hope to beat Cell is Gohan's hidden power," he said grim.

x

* * *

x

"Oh my god, dear viewers, it just keeps on getting worse and worse," the reporter spoke despairingly into his microphone, "Cell keeps on torturing this child and our champion Bruce is still racked with crippling stomach pains. And so far none of the other contestants has made any moves to come to the child's aid."

x

* * *

x

"Do you think he's right?" Buffy asked Belmovekk, "Do you think Gohan could defeat Cell if only he embraces the power of the Force?"

"Frankly, I do not know what to think any more," Belmovekk said, still sitting on his boulder, "I can only place my trust in his plan as there does not seem to be any other."

"I don't understand why Gohan's so reluctant to fight Cell," Mayan said shaking her head, "The Gohan I knew didn't like to fight either but did it anyway."

"It does seem out of character," Belmovekk agreed then he got off his boulder and looked at Willow, "I starting to suspect foul play. Like somebody has been fanning the flames of his reticence."

"The Powers That Be?" Willow said.

"The very same," Belmovekk echoed.

x

* * *

x

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Gohan yelled as Cell continued his torture.

"Come on," Cell said sounding a little impatient, "Aren't you angry yet? I know this must hurt. Does this not make you angry at me?"

x

* * *

x

"Goku, you're mistaken," Piccolo continued and pointed towards Gohan, "Your son is not like you. He doesn't have your warrior's heart. He fights because he has too, not because he wants too. Does he even know about your plan? Did you even discuss it with him?"

Goku didn't reply. He hadn't discussed it with Gohan because he feared knowing the plan might inhibit Gohan or create a psychological block to unleash his rage. But there was worse. For the first time in his life Goku realized that he might have misunderstood his own son. Projected his own hopes and desires onto him. And the awful truth, the bitter truth was that Piccolo might be right. Gohan may like martial arts for its playfulness and competitiveness, and the bond it created with him and Piccolo, but in his heart he had no Saiyan desire for actual fighting. No desire to push himself to the limit in combat and to seek out new challenges and enemies to fight.

So, for the first time doubt began to creep in.

 _What have I done?_

Seeing that he had scored a major point Piccolo pressed on.

"Do you want to know what's inside your son's mind right now? He's not thinking about unleashing his rage. He's not thinking about how to unleash his hidden power. Inside is a little boy that's terribly frightened and who wonders why his father won't come to save him from death and pain! He wonders why his father values a fair manly fight more then his own son's life. Never forget that he may be the strongest of all of us, underneath it all he's still a child!"

 _What have I done?_

As he stared at Gohan, crushed in Cell's grip Goku's eyes grew big in the realization of the horror of his actions.

"I don't care if I die," Piccolo said as he reached to take off his shoulder pieces, "I'm going!"

"I'm with you," Faith said immediately and unreservedly.

"Krillin," Goku said as he turned towards the small fighter, "Quickly, give me a senzu!"

"You've got it!" Krillin said relieved as he reached for the pouch with the beans.

Then the unexpected happened.

x

* * *

x

Without warning Cell suddenly let Gohan go and dropped him to the ground. As he fell on the ground Gohan began to pant heavily.

"You're a stubborn bastard," Cell snorted derisively, "It looks like your own pain is not enough to get you angry."

Cell then looked up briefly up the ridge where the other fighters were.

"Let's see what your friends have to say about this," he said as he began to smirk again. Then, before Gohan had a chance to react, Cell took off and raced towards the other fighters.

"NO! STOP IT!" Gohan yelled to no avail. And before anyone else could react Cell appeared in front of Krillin and grabbed the pouch with senzu beans from him.

"This contains your supply of senzu beans, right?" Cell said as he examined the pouch, "These can be troublesome. Why don't I hang on them for a while?"

Then he jumped away and landed next to Gohan again.

"No need for me to dirty my hands fighting the likes of them again," Cell said arrogantly as he glanced back for a moment.

"What… what are you going to do?" Gohan asked horrified.

"Simple," Cell replied as he tossed the pouch with senzu beans in the air and grabbed it again, "I'll do basically anything to see that awesome power of yours. Since you won't respond to your own pain I'm going to make your friends pay for your reluctance."

"No!" Gohan pleaded, "You don't understand! I can't control myself like that! That's why I can't do it!"

Cell looked at Gohan and his smirk grew a little bigger.

"And that's exactly why I'm going to hurt your friends until you do," Cell said.

"NOOOOO!" Gohan yelled as he lunged for the bag of senzu beans, but Cell kicked him easily into the ground.

"If you're going to get mad, do it proper!" he said expressing his disapproval.

Then, before he could say or do anything else, something caught Cell's attention from the corner of his eyes and he looked around.

Only to see Android #16 lunge for him and take him in a bear hug of his own.

x

* * *

x

"Well, that's a twist," Spike said half drunken and mildly surprised inside Larry's bar, "Hands up who saw that coming?"

x

* * *

x

"How did he get there?" Goku said surprised. Nobody had seen it coming as the android had sneaked up upon Cell and grabbed him as if out of nowhere.

"He's a machine," Piccolo said, "there's no sensing him."

"#16's going to fight Cell?" Krillin said surprised.

"He doesn't stand a chance," Faith said worried, "he barely escaped the last time. And that was before Cell became perfect."

x

* * *

x

"DAMN YOU, #16!" Cell said angry as he struggled against the iron grip that Android #16 had on him.

Then the big android began to yell.

"FORGIVE ME FOR GETTING YOU ALL INVOLVED IN THIS! AND FOR SACRIFICING YOUR LIVES! I'M GOING TO SELF-DESTRUCT MYSELF ALONG WITH CELL!"

"WHAT?" a lot of people exclaimed on top of the ridge.

"This is the final power I was never to use unless as a last resort," Android #16 continued to yell, "None of you can survive the annihilation of my infinite energy reactors at such close range. Not even Cell!"

As he realized what Android #16 was going to do Cell's eyes grew big as saucers. The infinite energy reactors packed a lot of punch as they were, but when the thermo-nuclear detonator would go off and make them go critical all bets were basically off.

Then Android #16 yelled as he activated his thermo-nuclear detonator.

x

* * *

x

On top of the ridge a lot of people tried to scramble for cover. Others stood immobile as they realized that there would be no cover. At least not for them to reach in time.

Only one person did not dive for cover as she realized the godawful truth.

And then nothing happened.

x

* * *

x

As he opened his eyes Android #16 realized he was still there.

"W-why? Why am I still here?"

x

* * *

x

"#16, you can't blow yourself up," Faith yelled at the android in the valley below, "Bulma's father found that bomb inside you when they repaired you. And he took it out!"

x

* * *

x

"Talk about irony much," Bulma said as she slumped in her seat in front of the television back home.

x

* * *

x

"No," Android #16 said softly as he realized that his plan had failed.

x

* * *

x

"There goes another plan down the drain," Belmovekk said sadly on top of the ridge, "It scored high on guts, poor on research and in the end all for naught."

x

* * *

x

"Too bad, #16," Cell said as he began to smirk again, "But if it's any consolation, I don't think it would have worked against me anyway."

DOOM!

Firing off a massive blast Cell fired right through Android #16, ripping the brave android apart and showering the area with little pieces.

x

* * *

x

"No," Faith said sadly on top of the ridge. She liked the big android. He was big, strong and silent, just like she liked them. And for an android, a fully mechanical one even, he had a surprisingly big human heart.

x

* * *

x

As Gohan watched on in horror pieces of Android #16 landed all around him. Then the biggest piece of all landed not far from him at Cell's feet.

His head.

"Haha," Cell laughed, "In the end you proved yourself to be exactly what you were, a failed experiment by Dr. Gero."

Then he kicked the head away.

x

* * *

x

Ricocheting off a rock Android #16's head bounced a couple of times before landing not far from Bruce Schnitzengruber and the FOX NEWS camera team. Who were insanely grossed out by it as they realized he was not a man but a robot.

x

* * *

x

Meanwhile Cell looked at the fighters on top of the ridge.

"Alright, you're all next," he said grinning and began to count them, "1… 2… 4… 7… 10… 13… 21…, that's 33 in all. But most of them don't count. There's only 14 that matter. Add a 15th for the rest."

Cell then arched his back and closed his eyes.

"Mmmmm," he groaned, then the spike on his back, all that was left of his once extremely dangerous tail, widened into a funnel again.

x

* * *

x

"What's he doing?" Vegeta said curious.

x

* * *

x

"Hhmmmpf," Cell groaned again, then a shiver went through his back. And another. And another.

With each tremor something popped out of Cell's funnel. Something small. Then, as Gohan watched on in horror they turned out to be miniature versions of Cell, a small army of them.

x

* * *

x

"What the hell are those?" Piccolo asked horrified.

x

* * *

x

"Kree, kree," the miniature versions of Cell shrieked as they got to their feet. Then Cell turned around to address his new mini army.

"Cell Juniors, see those people on those hills?" he said nodding towards the ridge, "Attack them. I want you to hurt them. I don't even care if you kill them."

Taking one look at the fighters at the ridge the Cell Juniors launched themselves in the air.

"Kree kree!"

x

* * *

x

"Watch out!" Goku yelled as he assumed a fighting stance, "They're unbelievably strong!"

As Goku raised his power, so did everybody else. Everybody who could transform into Super Saiyan did so.

x

* * *

x

As he watched the fighters power up and transform Cell smirked.

"You're all wasting your effort, you can't beat them," he said calmly, "They are after all, _my_ children."

x

* * *

x

I should have taken a painkiller, Xander thought as one of the little mini-Cells landed right in front of him. Despite spending another year in that accursed Room of Spirit and Time and trying his damnest Xander had been unable to fully rid himself of the searing pain that hit him every time he went Super. Even though by now he was able to suck it up for short amounts of time, he still had need of some painkillers to function properly.

"Kree kree!" the creature said taunting him.

"Yeah, your mommy's a hamster and she spilled a bottle of ugly over you when you were born," Xander said back, then he charged the little tyke. And hit empty air as the Cell Junior easily evaded his punch and sunk his elbow in his back instead.

As Xander fell to the floor he could at least count his blessings. There were worse kinds of pain then the pain that came with going Super and he could probably look forward to a whole world of new experiences in that regard.

x

* * *

x

"What are you?" Belmovekk said as a Cell Junior landed in front of him. The creature said nothing, only grinned ferally as it jumped towards him and tried to punch him in the face.

"Is that all you got?" Belmovekk said as he evaded the attack by sidestepping. As he did he tried to smash his fist into the Cell Junior's face. And got blocked by the thing's arm. It was like trying to hit hardened steel.

"Tough guy, huh?" Belmovekk said as the two fighters stared each other in the face. He then unleashed a flurry of blows which the Cell Junior all easily blocked.

"Torak's teeth!" Belmovekk swore as he tried to raise every ounce of power he still had left. It was like fighting Cell all over again.

x

* * *

x

As he fought his own Cell Junior Riley couldn't help but think that coming here maybe wasn't the brightest idea in the book after all. There wasn't a whole lot he could do and right now he was in way out of his league with these little Cells.

Still, he should be honored, Out of all the soldiers only he and Jamison seemed to be worthy enough to have gotten their own mini Cell. The rest had to 'make do' with a single one for all of them.

Who just happened to be wiping the floor with all of them.

Not that he was doing much better as the Cell Junior hit him ten times for every hit he managed to score.

Then the Cell Junior made a low spinning leg sweep designed to knock him off his feet.

"Oh no you don't," Riley said as he jumped in order to avoid getting swept away.

But apparently that was exactly what the thing had in mind as it dropped underneath and squarely hit him in the Finn family jewels.

"There goes the grandkids mother always wanted," Riley groaned as he fell to the ground.

x

* * *

x

"Son of a bitch!" Krillin said angry as he faced off against his Cell Junior, then he made a swipe for the thing, which it easily avoided.

"Over here!" the Cell Junior said suddenly behind Krillin. Then it did a roundhouse kick that sent Krillin flying and falling into the valley. Where he landed not far from Cell and Gohan.

Before he could get up the Cell Junior landed with his knee in Krillin's back, causing Krillin's eyes to almost pop out of his skull.

x

* * *

x

As he saw Krillin get mercilessly beaten by the Cell Junior Gohan watched on helplessly.

 _What the hell is wrong with me?_

 _Many have died before and can never be brought back with the Dragonballs. If they die now it's forever! Why do I feel no anger about this? Shouldn't I be enraged? Why am I not enraged?_

x

* * *

x

As Buffy fought her Cell Junior she suddenly backed into someone. Glancing briefly over her shoulder she discovered it was Faith.

"Got your back, B.," Faith grinned back confidently, "Just like the old days, in Sunnydale."

x

* * *

x

Amidst the absolute chaos, only one person was left to fend for herself unharmed. As the Cell Juniors wreaked havoc on her friends Willow found that the creatures completely ignored her.

He must think I don't matter at all, Willow thought, not sure whether to feel lucky or to feel insulted. Considering the way that everybody got clobbered maybe it was a blessing after all.

x

* * *

x

The Cell Junior fighting Krillin, if you could still call it fighting, was kicking him without any mercy, delighting itself in the pain it was inflicting.

x

* * *

x

Super Saiyan Mayan was no match for hers as she doubled over and received a two handed strike to the back of her head.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

She was still defiant though as she fell to the ground, kicked her legs upward and then pushed herself up to somersault over the thing, then before landing she kicked the Cell Junior in the face. A glancing blow to the face at least as the thing managed to dodge most of it.

x

* * *

x

In Larry's bar Spike watched with interest as the camera showed how the Z-fighters and Scoobies got the living snot kicked out of them.

"It's like I died and went to heaven," Spike said as he wiped away an imaginary tear. Then he reached for his bottle of beer and had a swig. Come to think of it, the end of the world might not be so bad after all if it meant getting completely pissed while watching the telly where those arrogant Scoobies got beaten and killed first.

"Here's to you, Cell," Spike said as he raised his beer, "I salute you, you magnificent bastard!"

x

* * *

x

"They're getting beaten," Daniel said as he looked away from the big screen towards O'Neill.

"Correction," the colonel said not taking his eyes from the big screen, "They're getting hammered. Real bad!"

"Only the Saiyans and half Saiyans seem to be holding their own," Sam said, "the rest just gets tortured."

"But why?" O'Neill said gesturing towards the big screen, "Cell's not even bothering with the kid any more."

x

* * *

x

Why did I have to come, Yamcha thought as his Cell Junior slapped him around like a sack of potatoes.

I wasn't even going to participate!

x

* * *

x

 _No._

 _This can't be happening,_ Gohan thought as he watched on helplessly.

Then Cell looked over his shoulder at Gohan.

"Did I sense a small increase in your chi?" Cell said smirking, "Good. You finally seem to be coming to your senses. You'd better be quick though or it's too late. Only Vegeta and Trunks seem to be holding their own. Goku has lost too much of his power, and the rest are just no match for my children."

x

* * *

x

In the year that she had spent with her father in the Room of Spirit and Time Mayan had learned many things. That compared to her father her old teacher Gohan knew next to nothing about martial arts. This was of course no sign of disgrace for Gohan. He just had to grow up without the benefit of a mentor of his own when he most needed one.

Some of the techniques her father had taught her in the Room of Spirit and Time now came in handy. Especially some those defensive Radi'itsu techniques which now helped ward off that annoying Cell Junior that besieged her.

Of course the best defense does not win any battle without a means to strike back a winning blow against the attacker. Without that the attacker continues to wield the initiative and eventually wears the defender down. Waiting for that mistake that would eventually happen.

So when it happened Mayan was in for a world of hurt.

x

* * *

x

As his Cell Junior ploughed his elbow into Yamcha's arm he heard the noise of bones breaking.

Then came searing pain.

"GAAAAAAAAAAH!" Yamcha yelled as he reached for his broken arm.

x

* * *

x

Delivering a roundhouse kick to his Cell Junior Trunks bought himself a little respite. Maybe it would give him the inspiration to finish that damn critter off.

But then Trunks saw something happen that caused him to forget all about his Cell Junior.

Mayan was going down.

"MAYAN!" Trunks yelled, then he ran towards her.

And got tackled by his own Cell Junior before he even came close.

x

* * *

x

Sentimental fool, Vegeta thought derisively as he saw his son go down. There was no place for romantic tomfoolery on the battlefield and if Trunks wanted to help his whore then he should do everyone a favor and beat his own Cell spawn first.

"HYAH!" Vegeta yelled as he hammered his fist into his own Cell Junior. Only to got a kick to the face back from that accursed creature.

 _This is ridiculous! I can't be having this much difficulty fighting against these shrimps!_

At least he had managed to succeed in one aspect. He had managed to wipe that accursed smirk off that little creature's face.

x

* * *

x

As he received a knee to the stomach from his Cell Junior Goku doubled over. He had been in poor shape already after his fight with Cell, what little remained was no match for this…. thing.

"I-I'm sorry everyone," Goku stammered, "This…, wasn't how it was…, supposed to happen."

x

* * *

x

As the two Cell Juniors pounded into Buffy and Faith like madmen, Faith spat defiantly at the creatures.

"Is that the best you can do, fuckers? You hit like a bunch of girls!"

x

* * *

x

 _What is wrong with me,_ Gohan asked himself in disgust as he watched almost everyone going down, _everybody….., everybody's going to get killed! If I really had this incredible power I wish that I could use it right now._

 _I want to use that strength to beat Cell now._

 _But how? How do I do this? Why can't I unleash my rage?_

x

* * *

x

Androids do not experience time when deactivated or turned off. All they experience is nothingness. And nothing is pretty much devoid of anything. The only time they do register is when they are online.

When Android #16 was about to self-destruct he pretty much expected nothingness to happen again. And got exactly that once Cell destroyed him. Great was his surprise when suddenly his CPU activated again.

Status: damaged beyond repair

Critical damage: no systems operational below the neck

Options: none once emergency backup power runs out

Then something even stranger happened.

He received direct command input straight into his brain.

 _Android,_ the direct input wrote, _who are you?_

 _I am a Dr. Gero type android, number 16,_ Android #16 stated, _I was created to destroy Son Goku._

 _Why did you not fulfil this mission,_ the direct input read, _you were ordered to destroy Son Goku and yet you refrained from fulfilling this mission. You also chose to act against a fellow android called Cell. Why did you do this?_

 _I may be an android and bound to my programming, I am more then the sum of my code. My creator wanted me to be the perfect assassin, able to blend in. His programming was too good and it gave me the power of reason. I observed the world and noticed a discrepancy between my creator's view of it and my own. I chose to follow my own. And while I cannot resist my mission to destroy Son Goku indefinitely, I can chose to prioritize it to a lower magnitude._

 _I see,_ the direct input read, _you have indeed risen above your programming, Android #16. Can we ask you something?_

 _That depends,_ Android #16 responded, _I will not undertake any actions that will bring harm to this planet._

 _Do not worry,_ the direct input read, _we have no desire to do so. In fact we want you to save this planet. It is most…., dear to us._

 _Then I am willing to help,_ Android #16 responded, _but my options are limited._

 _We know of a way you can help,_ the direct input wrote, _but it will involve a sacrifice on your part._

Then Android #16 was shown how he could be of help.

 _Do you still want to help,_ the direct input wrote but Android #16 didn't need to think it over.

 _More now then ever._

x

* * *

x

"Good grief," the FOX NEWS reporter cowered as he and the others hid behind some rocks. The fight between the mini-Cells and the others had stopped being a fight and had turned into acts of sheer sadism and torture.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked, mostly at the camera man because he at least could zoom in.

"We're in trouble, that is," the reporter said frightened, "We should try to get the hell out of here, that is!"

Finally, a good idea, Bruce thought, but before he could say something, something happened.

The robot head lying in front of them opened its eyes and began to speak.

"Wait," it suddenly said, much to everyone's horror, "before you leave, someone, please, take me to that boy. Please, I beg you, for Earth! Your Earth!"

The reporter and the camera man looked at each other. As they did for once Bruce felt free to say what he felt.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said haggardly, "Cell's right next too him!"

"I seem to be mistaken," the robot's head said in a slightly mocking tone, "Did you not come here to save the world? Have not billions of people placed their trust in you? Are you not called a hero? Champion of the world?"

"Leave him alone!" the reporter yelled angry, "Bruce is a champion of humanity! Th-this is not a battle, it's a battle of freaks! Freaks like you!"

As the reporter talked Bruce looked at him, then at the talking robot head, which now looked and smiled at him.

 _What on Earth had he gotten himself into?_

This was a question which he had asked himself often and repeatedly ever since learning the godawful truth of the Cell Games. This was no place for actors and posers like him. This was a place for real heroes. Heroes like those people up there who were now paying the price for their heroism, while a poser like him sat it out in relative safety. How was he supposed to come to terms with himself if he did nothing? How was he supposed to look himself in the eyes and not be disgusted with himself? How was he supposed to look his daughter in the eyes and not see the disgust in her eyes?

 _You can still be that hero,_ a dry voice in his head suddenly said, _just do what the robot heads wants you to do._

 _But I might get killed,_ he countered.

 _You'll die anyway if you don't,_ the voice said snide, _the only choice you have is whether or not you will die as a coward when Cell blows up this planet or on your feet as you meet your fate. Bruce Schnitzengruber, coward, vs. Bruce Schnitzengruber, champion of humanity, Child of Grey. This is your moment, Bruce. This is what you were born to do. Chose wisely._

And then the voice was gone.

"Alright!" Bruce said as he stood up and stepped forward, "I'll do it."

"Bruce, don't!" the reporter implored, "You'll get killed!"

"Shut up!" Bruce yelled, "A bunch of nameless people are out there, and they're fighting for us. If I run now I'll forever be the laughing stock of the planet. No, I'll forever feel ashamed of myself. For how long it lasts anyway."

Bruce came forward and picked the head up. It was surprisingly more heavy then he had expected. Holding it like it was a bowling ball Bruce ran through the valley, using various rocks as cover.

"You just want me to take you closer, right?" he asked the head nervously.

"Oh yeah, that would be great," the head replied thankful, "Just throw me when you get close enough. You're doing great, hero."

"Actually, I'm two steps away from pissing my pants," Bruce said, "I'm _that_ scared."

"Nobody says a hero can't be scared," the head said back, "It's still doing something when you're scared which makes you a real hero."

"Are you scared?" Bruce asked the head, "Can robots be scared?"

"I do not know fear as such," the head replied after a short silence, "But I do worry about the end of my existence. I know you humans believe in some sort of afterlife but for me there is only non-existence."

"What an odd pair we are," Bruce chuckled briefly, "Oh, if it's any consolation, thank you for rescuing us earlier."

"My pleasure," the head smiled, "Now more then ever."

x

* * *

x

DOF!

Yet another Z fighter fell unconsciously to the ground.

This time it was Tien.

Yamcha had already passed out, even though his Cell Junior was still kicking him.

"P-Please, stop!" Gohan pleaded with Cell, "I'm begging you..."

Gohan's plea caused Cell to only smirk more.

Good, he's close now. So very close.

"All right, Cell Juniors," Cell yelled to his creations, "You can kill them now if you want too."

NO! Gohan thought as he balled his fist and felt his anger rise. But not enough. Still not enough.

Cell noticed another slight rise in Gohan's chi.

Yes, almost there indeed, he thought.

"DO IT! KILL THEM NOW!"

x

* * *

x

"This is as close as I'm going to get," Bruce said hiding behind the only boulder that was close enough to Cell to hide behind, "Here we go!"

Then he threw Android #16's head.

x

* * *

x

THUD

Bouncing a couple of times of the ground Android #16's head came to a stop between Cell and Gohan, be it closer to Cell then to Gohan.

x

* * *

x

"Dammit! I threw it too hard," Bruce said, angry at himself.

x

* * *

x

"Th-the android," Gohan said surprised as he saw Android #16's land in front of him. And to his surprise it still seemed to be active as it looked at him.

"Son Gohan," it said, "Fighting for good is not a sin you know. There are some whom words can never reach. Release your anger. Set your passions free. I know how you feel but you don't have to hold back."

"Good advice," Cell said mockingly, "But I prefer to teach him this in my own way."

"The wild animals and forests that I love," the android's head continued, "protect them for me. Don't let them be destroyed."

"Oh puhlease," Cell snorted derisively, "I've had enough of this hippie bullshit."

And then he stepped on Android #16's head and smashed it.

SMASH!

"Goodbye, #16," Cell said, "Drop by again in the future. If you still can."

Then, several things happened at once.

Unbeknown to both Cell and Gohan Cell's smashing of Android #16's head caused a chain of reactions to take place. The first of which was that now that the android had personalized himself as a person, his death by Cell now made it all the more harrowing.

Which was exactly what Android #16 and the unknown direct input had planned for.

Secondly the unknown direct input had rewritten some of his code and rewired some of his neural pathways. So as Cell crushed him it caused a signal to be briefly broadcast. A signal with only limited range, necessitating Bruce's aid to bring the head this close. And also necessitating Android #16's head to be crushed in the process. A sacrifice the android had made willingly.

The signal had two purposes. Firstly it served to push a highly agitated state of mind even further. But it was not enough to break the barrier that was holding back Gohan's rage.

For that barrier had been supernaturally imposed on him.

But the signal was also supernaturally designed to break down that barrier.

The Powers That Be had guessed that Goku's plan revolved around his son and to be sure subtlely placed a barrier upon him. They had wanted Cell to kill both the Z-fighters and the Scoobies. And then grow tired of breaking Gohan and kill him as well. After which he was to serve their purpose and blow up Earth.

Instead the signal broke the barrier that held back Gohan's rage and served to push him past it.

And then his power exploded.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

x

* * *

x

Until now Thor had been watching and measuring the proceedings on Earth with keen interest. Strange things were happening down there that made next to no sense but that were damn interesting from a scientific point of view.

But as he watched the child transform and ascend to a new level of power it dwarfed everything he had observed so far. There was now probably more concentrated firepower on that small piece of Earth then in both this and the Asgard galaxy combined.

x

* * *

x

"What the hell is that?" O'Neill said as his face was now almost inches away from the big screen.

"I think that kid just managed to do what all the other Saiyans couldn't," Sam said equally flabbergasted, "Reach that elusive next level they were after."

"Super Saiyan level 2?" Daniel remarked, then he held up his hand like he was pitching an idea to an executive, "This time…., with more explosions, more speed, more everything?"

"We're in the hands of a 12 year old," O'Neill said gloomily, "One who can throw the mother of all tantrums now."

x

* * *

x

As Gohan stopped blasting the entire area with a bombardment of raw chi an eerie calm returned to Cell's Valley. And finally everybody was able to see the end result of Gohan's new transformation.

Aside from his golden chi flames, now burning even brighter, arcs of electricity surrounded his chi flames. His hair stood up even straighter then seemed possible, and his muscles had increased in size, although nothing like the extreme body builder look that both Vegeta and Trunks had sported after first emerging from the Room of Spirit and Time.

The greatest change however was in the eyes.

Before a gentleness had been present, one that not even the cold blue green of hue of his Super Saiyan transformation could camouflage. Now however that gentleness was gone.

Instead it was replaced with a cold hard stare, one that spoke of death, destruction and a whole fuckload of other nasty things.

It had even Cell scared as he recoiled in its horror.

"H-he's changed," Cell said subdued. Then Gohan spoke.

"You're going to pay," he stated matter of fact, "for everything."

Then, calmly and confidently Gohan walked up to Cell. Who recoiled briefly before getting a grip of himself. This was what he had wanted after all, right? Then why was he suddenly feeling fear?

Maybe it was the sheer awesome power that Gohan seemed to be radiating. It was so incredible that…. wow, it would be the fight of his life. Hell, it would reduce his earlier fight with Goku into a simple sparring match. This would be it. The defining moment of his existence.

"So you've finally shown your true form," Cell said as he tried to grin, "this… should be interesting!"

Once he stood in front of Cell Gohan didn't respond. Instead, faster then even Cell could follow he yanked the pouch with senzu beans from him.

Not believing it had just happened Cell looked at his empty hand, then at the bag in Gohan's hand.

"Y-you took the senzu…," Cell said in disbelief.

Then, before he could do anything else Gohan took off and sped past him.

And straight for the Cell Junior that had been torturing Krillin.

As he landed next to the thing the creature looked at him in bewilderment. Then it began to grin. While extremely powerful the Cell Juniors weren't actually that bright. It had only a limited range of actions in its repertoire, yet strangely enough the one thing it had unlimited amounts off seemed to be Cell's arrogance.

Without thinking the Cell Junior threw himself at Gohan.

"HYAH!"

Before it even had a chance to get near Gohan lashed out and with one fell strike he did not just decapitate the Cell Junior, he smashed right through its head.

Still twitching its body fell to the ground.

x

* * *

x

No way, Cell thought, his eyes big as saucers, as he witnessed the casual ease with which Gohan had disposed of the Cell Junior.

x

* * *

x

"Ha," Goku chuckled weakly as he saw his son kill the Cell Junior, "I knew it!"

x

* * *

x

"Gohan?" Piccolo said bewildered.

x

* * *

x

"So Goku was right all along," Belmovekk said in amazement, "the world will come to an end."

"But maybe not today," Mayan said nearby.

x

* * *

x

The Cell Juniors had witnessed the demise of one of their own first with bewilderment. This shouldn't be possible. Then came fear. Here was something that could kill them. This shouldn't be! Therefore their tiny primitive brains came to the same conclusion.

Danger!

Destroy before danger destroys us!

Then came rage.

And then all fourteen remaining Cell Juniors streaked towards Gohan at once.

"KREE KREE!"

As he watched the Cell Juniors stream towards him Gohan calmly awaited their arrival. Then when they were close he began to yell.

"HYAAAH!"

Jumping towards the first one he kicked right through the luckless creature, tearing it in half. Then he smashed his knee into the head of another and utterly squashed its skull. A jumping kick tore the head off of third Cell Junior, an elbow strike the head of a fourth one. A turning jump tore through a fifth one.

On it went until there was only one of the creatures left.

As a severed arm fell on the ground before it, it recoiled in horror. Then it jumped into the air and flew away as fast as it could.

As he looked into the sky Gohan saw the last of the Cell Juniors fly off into the distance. Then he took off and closed the distance in no time. Appearing in front of it he swung his arm around and ploughed it through the Cell Junior.

And that was the end of the Cell Juniors.

And he hadn't even let go off the pouch with senzus while killing them.

x

* * *

x

Those that could still watch, almost all of them Saiyans, half-Saiyans and semi-Saiyans, had watched with eyes big as saucers at Gohan's casual dismissal of the creatures that had nearly killed them.

"I-I can't believe what I'm seeing!" Vegeta stammered out loud, "This can't be happening."

"Hahahaha…., cough," Goku laughed and coughed at the same time, "Serves you right, Cell! It's over!"

"Thank God!" Xander exclaimed as he sat down and de-transformed, then he reached inside his breast armor plate and pulled a plastic bag with pills, which he then popped one into his mouth.

"I still cannot believe it actually," Belmovekk said shaking his head in disbelief, "Goku's plan actually worked!"

"Yeah, I know," Mayan said as she walked over towards Buffy, "Are you alright, sis?"

"You're insinuating something," Buffy groaned lying in a world of pain on the ground, "I can tell."

Then Gohan spoke up from above and threw the pouch full of senzus to Trunks.

"Give these to everyone."

"Uh, okay," Trunks said as he caught the pouch.

x

* * *

x

Having thrown the pouch to Trunks Gohan touched down close to Cell.

Who seemed to be fuming with anger at the casual destruction of his Cell Juniors.

By now however Gohan seemed unimpressed at Cell's anger and glared back.

"Don't get too confident, boy," Cell finally said, "Don't think you can defeat me now."

"What do you think then?" Gohan asked matter of fact.

I've created a monster, Cell thought shocked at the boy's arrogance.

"Hmpf," Cell snorted, "arrogant little snip. You think you're all special now because you've had a little power up. Tremble as I will now show you my true, terrible, power."

Then Cell began to yell.

x

* * *

x

At the SGC everybody was glued to the big screen when one of the kids, little Dawn, grabbed Teal'c by his hand.

"Uncle Teal, water!" the child said, pointing to a decanter of water on a table in a corner.

"Me too, me too," little Mayan nodded eagerly.

Resigning to his fate Teal'c went to the refreshments table and poured some water in two glasses. He then put down the decanter and was about to hand the two glasses to the kids when he noticed something odd.

"Major Carter," he said.

"What Teal'c?" Sam asked as she joined Teal'c's side, who then pointed to the glasses of water. The water inside them was vibrating.

x

* * *

x

All over the planet seismographs were going off like crazy. But they weren't registering an earthquake.

At least not as such.

Earthquakes were local tremors when two tectonic plates shifted position.

What they were registering was not a local earthquake.

The whole planet was vibrating!

x

* * *

x

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

As Cell powered up his power blasted the surrounding countryside with the power of a category five hurricane. Causing havoc for Trunks as he tried to distribute the remaining beans to those who needed them.

For the FOX NEWS camera team and Bruce it was too much as they got blown away by the gale force winds.

But in the end everything comes to an end. And so did Cell's power up. And those who had weathered the storm looked around in bewilderment

"Christ!" Jamison said horrified to Riley, "What the hell were we thinking coming here?"

"We do what we have to do," Riley said with grim determination, causing Jamison to come forward.

"The idea that we might be of some use after Cell got weakened makes no more sense any more," the Marine said as he then pointed towards Cell and Gohan, "Compared to them we're just ants! There are already six of us dead. I say we should fall back and let them fight it out. Cause we ain't sure as hell ain't gonna make a difference here."

"We stay!" Riley barked at the Marine, "That's an order, major!"

"You're just staying because you're girlfriend is here," Jamison hissed angrily. You're not going to impress her with your bravery, you know. She's got more then enough power to protect all of us. At once!"

"Fine," Riley said angrily, "You guys leave! I'm staying!"

Jamison wanted to say something, then he changed his mind.

"Look, we're not abandoning them," he said in his defense as he pulled out a communicator, "Just to a safer distance. And we have to think of the dead as well. At least four of them look like they could be revived with the Dragonballs."

Then a voice spoke through the communicator.

"Pardon me, majors," Thor's voice said apologetic, "I happen to overhear your conversation. I am willing teleport your dead to my ship. But what are these Dragonballs that can revive the dead?"

x

* * *

x

"Finally, Cell at full power," Buffy said towards Willow, "And we used to think that he was laughs-a-plenty before."

"He likes to play games with us, that's for sure," Willow said back.

"If he wanted to play games, why not join the chess club?" Buffy countered.

"I guess he prefers dodgeball instead," Willow replied.

x

* * *

x

"Hhhhhha," Cell panted with a big grin on his face as he faced Gohan, "Well? What do you think? This is what I am when I really mean it."

Gohan looked anything but impressed.

"What about it?" he said unimpressed.

For a second Cell looked disappointed by Gohan's casual dismissal of his power. Then he began to smirk again.

Then, even faster then before, he launched himself at Gohan and planted his fist in Gohan's face. But even though Gohan had bent backwards because of the blow, he wasn't staggering. Instead he just looked pissed.

Feeling angry because his blow's lack of result Cell swung for Gohan again. Only this time Gohan ducked, then blocked Cell's blow and swung his own fist underneath as a counterattack, sinking his wrist up till wrist into Cell's stomach.

"Uuuuhhh," Cell groaned in pain as he stepped backwards and clutched his stomach. Then he looked angry at Gohan and made an open handed swipe for Gohan's neck, which the little fighter easily dodged. But it again left Cell open for a counter attack and this time Gohan gave Cell an uppercut to his jaw. Which sent the creature flying backwards until he landed wobbling on his feet, not believing what was happening to him.

x

* * *

x

"Unbelievable," Piccolo said wide eyed.

Goku said nothing, he just looked like a very proud father.

Vegeta on the other looked like he was again grinding his own teeth into fine powder. There he was, again being surpassed, only this time by Goku's abominable offspring.

Was there no end to his humiliation?

x

* * *

x

"Dear viewers," the reporter spoke excited into his microphone, while nearby the camera man was busy unscrewing the back of his camera, "the camera may be broken, but we are witnessing something incredible. That little boy is literally pummeling Cell!"

x

* * *

x

At the SGC the big screen had now been switched over to the feed of the single remaining Predator drone still circling the battlefield, but the FOX NEWS audio feed still came in.

"Cell's no match for this kid any more," Daniel said exciting, "this could be over any second!"

"If only we could be so lucky," O'Neill said as he remembered how a certain Saiyan prince once had Cell on his knees as well and just let him go.

x

* * *

x

Having composed himself Cell looked angrily at Gohan.

"You bastard shrimp!" he growled outraged as Cell came walking towards him. Then Gohan halted right in front of him.

"RRAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Cell yelled as he swung his leg towards Gohan's face with the obvious intent to smash it in there. But like before Gohan just easily blocked it with his arm.

Cell then tried to hit Gohan again repeatedly but each time his kick got blocked by Gohan. Then Gohan did a roundhouse kick that connected so hard against Cell's head that it almost tore it off.

It send the monster sliding face first across the ground over a hundred feet, finally sliding to a stop at the edge of the crater that used to be his ring.

"Ugh," Cell groaned as he came to his senses, then he looked up, as purple blood was dripping from his mouth.

Gohan was approaching.

Then, for the first time in his existence, Cell felt real fear.

Before, in the battles leading up to his completion, he had felt frustration. That this couldn't be happening to him. That if only he had been complete he could have won.

And that had been true.

Now, for the first time ever, he actually feared for his existence. So as he got up he recoiled in horror.

 _I don't believe it_ , Cell thought horrified, _nothing like him should exist in the universe. And yet he's actually stronger then me!_

"But that doesn't mean that I will lose," Cell said as he began to smirk again.

Then Cell jumped up and took to the skies, until he was half a mile high.

"Have fun breathing vacuum," he said maliciously, then he cupped his hands at his side, "KA! ME! HA!"

x

* * *

x

"That monster," Goku said horrified as he realized what Cell was going to do.

"He's going to blow us all up," Trunks said.

"Well, in that case," Mayan said as she grabbed Trunks and pressed her lips onto his.

"Mmmmm," Trunks said surprised, then he realized what she was doing and began to kiss back, "mmmmmm."

Seeing the two kiss Xander turned to Buffy.

"Kiss me and die," Buffy said quickly.

"No, not me," Xander said and pointed to Riley, "Him!"

x

* * *

x

On board the Beliskner II Thor powered up his main engines, chances were that he may had to leave in a hurry. Judging by these figures half the solar system would be blown up. While he liked the Earth humans, there was no sense in dying with them.

x

* * *

x

"ME!"

"YES!" Cell yelled with a voice filled and fuelled by hatred, "A KAMEHAMEHA AT FULL POWER! DODGE THIS AND THE EARTH WILL BE DESTROYED! YOU WILL HAVE TO STOP IT WITH YOUR OWN BODY!"

x

* * *

x

"I guess this is the end," Buffy said hesitantly as she stood before Riley.

"I guess so," Riley said back equally hesitant, "For what it's worth, I could think of a lot of worse endings. For us I mean."

"Just shut up and kiss," Buffy said, then she grabbed him by his uniform.

x

* * *

x

An obscene globe of energy was now beside Cell, bathing the entire countryside in a pale blue hue.

"HAAAAAA!" Cell yelled, then he fired off the Kamehameha wave towards Gohan.

x

* * *

x

"It's all over," Vegeta yelled.

x

* * *

x

Standing on the ground Gohan watched Cell's massive Kamehameha wave come towards him. Then he spoke.

"Ka, me, ha, me…."

Just as Cell's Kamehameha wave was just ten feet away Gohan brought up his hands and aimed them at Cell's attack.

"HAAAAAAAA!" he yelled and unleashed his own Kamehameha attack into Cell's.

x

* * *

x

DOOOM!

As strong waves of wind blasted the onlookers at hurricane wind levels Gohan's blast tore into Cell's. Then, much to Cell's horror he saw his Kamehameha wave pushed back towards him.

"NOOOOO….. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

x

* * *

x

This time the Beliskner II was in no danger as yet another Kamehameha wave pushed into space, again obliterating some satellites along the way. The SGC on the other hand wasn't doing so well as the sole Predator drone was now the only means they had of keeping track what was happening on the battlefield. There were now no surveillance satellites left.

x

* * *

x

An eerie calm returned to the battlefield as Gohan let the Kamehameha wave dissipate in space and turned his attention towards Cell instead.

Cell hung in the air, somehow having survived being hit by the Kamehameha wave blowback. But he had sustained massive injuries. One leg was fully gone, the other below the knee. His left arm from the elbow on, both his chitin wings and the two headplates.

Seeing Cell this much damaged Gohan began to grin maliciously.

x

* * *

x

"W-why…, does he…, h-have so much.., p-power?" Cell groaned in horror.

x

* * *

x

"That shrimp fired off an even bigger Kamehameha then Cell's already ridiculously overpowered Kamehameha," Vegeta said.

"I guess we live to fight another day," Riley said as he stopped kissing Buffy.

"Jay us?" Buffy smiled.

x

* * *

x

As Cell hung there helplessly in the air Gohan did nothing but smirk a malicious grin. Much to Goku's chagrin.

"Gohan! What are you doing?" he yelled at his son, "FINISH HIM OFF!"

x

* * *

x

"Finish him?" Gohan said as he briefly looked at his father, "I think he should suffer more."

x

* * *

x

"What did he just say?" Goku said incredulously as he looked at Piccolo.

"He wants Cell to suffer more," Piccolo answered.

"Is he crazy?" Faith remarked, "He's down, kick the bastard into the afterlife."

"He is drunk with power," Belmovekk said, "It happens when you first reach a new level of power. He is not used to it, it has gotten to his head."

"He's right," Piccolo agreed, "Vegeta was like that, Goku, you were like that too."

"GOHAN!" Goku yelled at his son, "You're the only one who can kill him, hurry up and do it! Stop playing with him. We don't know what it can still do! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Yeah, that'll work," Faith said shaking her head, "telling him he's an idiot."

x

* * *

x

Gohan again glanced at his father, but did nothing. Then, high in the sky, Cell grunted.

"NNNNYAAAAAAH!" he yelled, then his lost appendages sprouted back into existence again. Then Cell panted heavily from the exertion for a while before looking at Gohan.

"Y…., you are…., gonna PAY!"

Digging deep inside himself Cell reached for every ounce of power he still had. And then the impossible happened. His power grew even bigger.

And so did his muscle size.

As his muscles grew to obscene bodybuilder size Cell came down to Earth and landed in front of Gohan.

"I will NEVER lose to a THING like YOU!" Cell yelled enraged and brought a massive fist down unto Gohan.

But Gohan easily evaded Cell's fist as it smashed into the ground, creating a small crater. Cell swung again and again hit nothing as Gohan jumped backwards with contemptible ease.

x

* * *

x

"It transformed to maximize power," Trunks said as he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "It's the same mistake it mocked me for. It's blinded by rage."

"So this is the next level," Belmovekk said, "Not just incredible strength but also incredible speed as well. Truly the best of both worlds."

x

* * *

x

Gohan jumped towards Cell and drove his knee into Cell's bloated face. As he landed the monster stepped back, seemingly in incredible pain

"Ugh, ugh," Cell moaned, then his face contorted as his body began to writhe in agony. And then it looked like it had to threw up something.

"Glarg," Cell said as he vomited something up.

It was Android #18, still wearing Faith's leather outfit.

x

* * *

x

"It…., it vomited up #18," Krillin said wide eyed as everybody watched bewildered.

"Ew," Faith said shocked as she saw #18, all covered in slime and goo, "I don't think I want those clothes back."

x

* * *

x

"GAH," Cell coughed and wheezed having passed up Android #18. Then he looked up again and noticed that something had changed.

He was no longer perfect.

x

* * *

x

"It turned back," Buffy said incredulously, "It's no longer perfect!"

x

* * *

x

As Cell looked over his shoulder it stared right into Gohan's contemptuous face.

"This is useless," Gohan said frowning, "I guess this is the end for you."

"Grrrrrr, aaargh," Cell muttered in impotent anger, "no, I won't…, I WON'T ACCEPT THIS!"

Then Cell suddenly began to swell up.

x

* * *

x

"W-what's going on, viewers?" the reporter's voice spoke excited as the FOX NEWS audio sounded on at the SGC control room, "Cell is changing shape! Now he's swelling up like a balloon!"

"What's that thing up too?" General Hammond said as he studied the images coming from the Predator drone.

"It's the rollercoaster of nasty that just keeps on going," O'Neill said.

x

* * *

x

"What's it doing?" Willow asked as they saw Cell continue to swell up.

"A Jabba the Hutt impression?" Xander said but nobody laughed. Then Belmovekk and Goku looked at each other.

"Oh no…"

x

* * *

x

"HEH, HEH, HEH," Cell laughed in a deeper, bassier sound, "EVERYBODY SAY GOODBYE! I'M GOING TO SELFDESTRUCT IN 60 SECONDS! I'LL DIE, BUT SO WILL YOU! THE WHOLE EARTH WILL GO WITH ME!"

x

* * *

x

"He even sounds like Jabba the Hutt now," Xander said dejected.

"Not now," Buffy said annoyed, then she looked at Belmovekk, "Self-destruct?"

x

* * *

x

"Hahahahaha!" Cell laughed contemptuously at Gohan, "Its too late to grovel now. I can't stop it anymore!"

"I won't let you," Gohan said as he assumed a fighting stance, but Cell waved towards him.

"You can try but you'll only die sooner," he jeered, "The moment you hit me, the moment I explode."

"Damn you!" Gohan said in impotent anger

"30 seconds left," Cell gloated, "Bye bye!"

x

* * *

x

"No," Mayan said horrified and looked at the others, "We have to do something!"

"There's nothing that can be done," Piccolo said with a calm that came from the resignation to one's fate, "It's no use."

"I can think of something," Trunks said as he reached out and took her hand.

x

* * *

x

We don't know what it can still do!

Those were the words his father had said to him, Gohan thought as watched on in horror. Why didn't he listen when he had the chance?

"20 seconds left," Cell said in glee.

"SHIT!" Gohan said as he fell to his knees, "This is my fault! I-I should have finished him when I had the chance!"

"Fifteen seconds and the Earth is no more!" Cell laughed maniacally, "Muhahahahaha!"

x

* * *

x

On the ridge Goku looked at his friends, then at Belmovekk.

 _I know what you are going to do,_ the Saiyan sorcerer spoke into his mind, _I am not going to let you. I can do it too._

 _You can't stop me from trying,_ Goku replied telepathically, _I am stronger then you. I can beat you in five seconds and still do what I intend to._

 _I might be able to slow you down long enough not to,_ Belmovekk replied.

 _Then we both lose,_ Goku replied, then he glanced at Mayan and Buffy, _especially your daughters._

 _What about your own son,_ Belmovekk asked. After which Goku briefly hesitated before answering.

 _I do this so he can live and be what he wants to be,_ Goku replied, _He will have Piccolo to look after him. And hopefully you as well._

 _I understand,_ Belmovekk thought back, _I will do as you ask. Go with Aldur's blessing, Son Goku, and Priya's too. You will probably be the first of our race to ever stand before her. But better late then never, right?_

 _I will,_ Goku replied, then he looked at his friends and smiled.

"No matter how you think of this, this is the only way I could think off to save the Earth," the Saiyan said, then he brought two fingers to his forehead and waved at his friends, "Goodbye, guys!"

"G-Goku?" Krillin said as he realized what his oldest friend was up to, "You're kidding, right?"

Then Goku disappeared.

x

* * *

x

"Five seconds left," Cell said triumphantly, "The game ended in a draw. Too bad, that means everybody loses!

Then Goku appeared in front of Cell out of nowhere and put his hands on the swollen beast.

"You did well, Gohan," Goku said proudly as Gohan and Cell watched on in bewilderment, "I am proud of you."

"D-dad?" Gohan said shocked.

"Tell your mother I was sorry," Goku smiled one last time.

And then both he and Cell were gone.

x

* * *

x

Only to re-appear at Kaio Sama's little planetoid in the afterlife.

"I'm sorry, Kaio Sama," Goku said apologetic, "This was the only place I could think off."

And then Cell exploded.

x

* * *

x

"H-he's gone," Piccolo said as he bowed his head in grief, "Goku's chi is gone."

"GOKU!" Krillin sobbed uncontrollably as he fell to the ground crying.

Then, from the battleground below them came an even greater heartbreaking scream.

"FATHER!"

x

* * *

x

"Cell's gone, dear viewers," the reporter spoke puzzled into his microphone, "wh-what happened? It just disappeared."

As both the reporter and the camera man looked at where Cell used to be Bruce did the finger dance behind them.

It was over!

He was still alive!

His reputation was still intact!

Oh what a beautiful day!

x

* * *

x

One by one the Z-fighters touched down next to a sobbing Gohan.

"It's over," Krillin said as he and Faith knelled down next to Gohan and together embraced the little fighter, "You and Goku did it together."

"It's my fault," Gohan sobbed, "I-I could have killed it when dad told me too, but I was drunk with power. I killed my own father. I hate myself!"

"I…, uh," Krillin said not sure what to say, then Faith spoke up.

"You still saved the world, little brother," she said with a very un-Faith like gentleness, "It may not matter much to you now, but there's almost six billion people on this planet who now owe their lives now to you. For whatever it's worth to you, take comfort in that."

"She's right," Krillin said as he helped Gohan to his feet, "Come, let's go home. Let Belmovekk and his soldiers handle the rest."

"Speaking off the rest," Buffy said as she carefully tapped Android #18's leg, "I think she's still alive. Or active. Or whatever."

"I'll take care of her," Krillin said as he came forward and picked her unconscious body up.

"You know she's not going to be all hugs and kisses for you when she wakes up, right?" Buffy said at the small fighter.

"She was willing to sacrifice our lives to save us all," Krillin said back, "Even though Cell broke his promise to her, she deserves better then to be taken away by the military and be taken apart."

Buffy looked at the little man and smiled.

"You're a good man, Krillin. Don't let anyone tell you anything else."

x

* * *

x

In the afterlife three people floated above a long coiling snake road above unending unbroken yellowish clouds. And all three had little halo's floating above their heads.

"I'm sorry I got you killed too, Bubbles," Goku said apologetic at Kaio-Sama's pet ape. Who waved dismissively at Goku indicating it was okay.

The same forgiveness couldn't be said of Kaio Sama.

"I can't believe you!" he said fuming with anger, "I am Kaio Sama, Lord of Worlds! The most important person in the Universe. I am bigger then Kami Sama or those snotty ascended Ancients. You killed _me_ just to save a single measly planet?"

"I apologized, didn't I?" Goku said back, "Why can't you let go of it? You were already in the afterlife. All you lost was that small planet. It was the only thing I could think off."

"It happened to be _my_ little planet," Kaio Sama said snide, then he huffed, "Why can't I let it go? Idiot!"

Then Goku looked around.

"Shouldn't Cell's soul be with us here?" he asked puzzled, "Or did it go straight to Hell?"

That stopped Kaio Sama dead in his tracks as he looked around as well.

"Y-you're right," he said looking around, "It's not here anywhere. Not even at Lord Enma's. All souls go there for judgment."

"What are you saying?" Goku asked worried at the Lord of Worlds.

"I'm saying Cell's not dead yet!"

"WHAT!?"

x

* * *

x

"What are you doing with that machine," Vegeta said at Krillin carrying Android #18, "Destroy it!"

"Maybe I'm keeping her just so she can kick your ass again," Krillin said defiantly.

"That would be the day," Vegeta snorted, "I would…"

WOOOSH!

Suddenly a cloud formed not far from them, a cloud from which insanely strong winds began to blow. Then the Z-fighters looked at the cloud and began to recoil in horror.

"No, it is not possible," Belmovekk said horrified.

"T-that chi," Vegeta said shocked.

"Oh no," Piccolo said as he recoiled.

"You guys have way too much fun at our expense," Xander said as he looked upwards and rolled his eyes.

Then an arm appeared from the cloud, followed by another, then two index fingers extended themselves. One aimed at Mayan, the other at Buffy.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum," a smug voice singsang, "Which of his two daughters shall the Saiyan save this time?"

Then two Lancing Attacks were fired. One each for both Mayan and Buffy.

x

* * *

x

AN: _Next time less canon, more going off the wild end. I promise. Also next update on thursday as I got a party tomorrow._


	37. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter 22**

' **Give Up the Ghost'**

x

x

AN: _Okay, I've done two chapters where I've stuck to canon like glue, time to go off-canon again. This is stuff I've been planning for a long time. Stuff I've placed hints for in previous parts. Break out the previous parts and see if you can recognize some of it._

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan

x

As the two Lancing Attacks were fired off things suddenly happened in slow motion for Buffy. Slowly but surely she could see the Lancing Attack speed towards her and her sister. With Belmo caught in the middle between them. Which meant he could only try and save one of them. Trunks might come to Mayan's aid, but he was further away then Belmo.

If this was logical Belmo of Borg he would save his real daughter. At best she was only adopted, Mayan on the other hand was his real flesh and blood. But lately Belmo of Borg seemed to have taken a backseater, as Crazy Belmo was running the show. Anything could happen, really.

Still, she didn't mind dying. She may have come to an uneasy truce with her being the Slayer, it still didn't mean she liked being it. Also, what good is being the Slayer in a world chock full of Saiyans who can now go to the second level? Hell, even Xander had now surpassed her.

Xander!

Of all people, he who at one time had been mister useless in a battle was now way beyond her.

In a world full of Super Saiyans who still needs a Slayer?

So she closed her eyes and let herself be killed.

Then she got hit and fell to the ground.

At least its over, was her last thought.

Then Buffy opened her eyes and looked into the skies of Afghanistan again.

She was still alive. She looked around and saw the faces of the others as they stared at her.

"I'm not dead?" she said, then she looked to her right.

And saw Belmo's crumpled body lying on the ground in front of her amidst a pool of his own blood.

"Belmo," she said as she got up and made for his side. He must have pushed her aside. But that meant…..

Looking elsewhere she saw Mayan's dead body lying on the ground. And Trunks' lying a couple of feet in front of her. He must have thrown himself in front of her. But where Belmo had pushed her aside and taken the hit himself Trunks had only managed to get the both of them got killed. Not to diminish his incredibly brave sacrifice in any way, but stu….., no, not so smart much?

Then she looked at Belmo again and realized why was she thinking that?

He was dead.

"Don't be dead, Belmo," she said frantically, "Please, Belmo, don't be dead!"

Then she looked around.

"A senzu, anyone, please? A senzu!"

"Buffy," Willow's voice said as tears began to well up in Buffy's eyes, "There are no more senzu."

"Then you do your magic thing," Buffy asked as her voice began to choke, "Do something! Bring him back!"

"Buffy, I, um, can't," Willow said as she bit her lip, "He's dead. It went right through him. T-there's nothing I can do."

"No, that's not true," Buffy said as she began to pump Belmovekk's chest, causing only more blood to flow from his gaping stomach wound, "We can save him! I know we can. We just have to keep trying."

"But Buffy…..," Willow objected, but then Piccolo put his arm on her shoulder.

"Let her," he said calmly, "She's lost it."

"Come back," Buffy said as she blew air into Belmovekk's mouth, "Please, father, come back. Don't leave me. Not again! You promised! Don't leave us! Don't leave your daughters like this…"

It didn't work.

Whatever she tried to save his life, it didn't work. Then she again looked around.

"Somebody, help me!"

But there was no help.

Not because nobody cared, or was oblivious to her plight.

They just had bigger problems to take care off.

Cell had returned.

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 241

1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale.

x

"Are you talking to your imaginary boyfriend again?" Buffy said as she saw Belmovekk sitting on the couch hammock that was at the porch of their home. She had overheard him talking to somebody again, and since he was sitting there alone she figured he was talking to Amūn again.

"I think you just hurt his feelings," Belmovekk chuckled, causing Buffy to shake her head.

"I wonder what Mom would think if she knew that every time she slept with you she was actually having a threesome," Buffy replied, then she made an ugly face, "Ew, I don't even wanna know."

"Is there something you wanted to talk about, young lady?" Belmovekk asked.

"Funny you should ask that," Buffy said and sat down in the hammock, only to look around and smile, "Oops, I hope your boyfriend didn't mind me sitting down on his lap."

"He is gone," the Saiyan said as he reached for his ice tea, "Now what do you want to talk about?"

"I've just been on the phone with Faith in the motel," Buffy said as she pointed over her shoulder in the general direction of the telephone, "Guess who's been having dreams together again?"

Belmovekk had just taken a sip of ice tea and then sprayed it out in shock.

"Gee, I wasn't hoping for that reaction," Buffy said smiling, then her smile turned evil, "then again, this is better."

"Was it a prophetic dream?" Belmovekk asked as he put down his glass and looked for a napkin.

"No," Buffy said, "This one was different. Cause I know Willow also had the same dreams, she also just called and I have a pretty good feeling Giles and Xander are also going to call."

No sooner had she said those words as the phone began to rang inside.

"Belmo," Buffy asked as she looked him straight in the face, "What do you know of the First Slayer?"

Belmovekk looked at Buffy as he stopped cleaning himself. Then he stood up.

"Alright, let us get everybody, we are going on a trip."

"Whoo, road trip!" Buffy said in mock excitement, "where too?"

Belmovekk looked up into the skies.

"Kami's Lookout." He said, "There is something there that I must show you."

"And that has what to do with the First Slayer?" Buffy asked as she got up from the hammock.

"Come and you shall know."

x

* * *

x

Using his instant transmission they had gathered everybody and made it to Kami's Lookout. There with the help of Mr. Popo they had made for the hall of records. Inside Belmovekk began to draw intricate symbols on all the walls and doorways, including the roof and floor. But Buffy noticed that he was mostly redrawing symbols that had already been drawn before and had just faded away.

"Are those glyphs of Silence?" Giles asked as he watched Belmovekk do his thing.

"Sort of, Master Giles," Belmovekk said as he continued to draw.

"What are those glibs?" Buffy asked Giles.

" _Glyphs_ of Silence," Giles couldn't help as he corrected her, "They're powerful wards to make sure nobody's eavesdropping on you."

"Oh," Buffy said, then she looked at Giles oddly, "Why didn't we have those back at the Library?"

"Because they take great skill to make?" Giles said chiding, "Because I'm not that good? Because they only last for a short while? Because having the whole library covered in glowing glyphs would have tipped off even Principal Snyder that something was out of the ordinary?"

"Master Giles is right," Belmovekk said as he finished the last drawing, then all of them began to glow, "They would have alerted even the dumbest of student that came inside the library. But these are different then the ones Master Giles mentioned.

"In what way?" Willow asked.

"For one, they are not Glyphs of Silence," the Saiyan explained, "These are Karand Wards of Solitude."

"What's the difference?" Faith asked, "Seems like different words, same stuff."

"Well, for one Glyphs of Silence only prevent other people from listening in," Belmovekk said pointing to the glowing wards, "These prevent anyone, including Gods for that matter, from learning what is going on."

"That seems kinda…., extreme?" Faith said back, to which Belmovekk shrugged.

"The Karands worship Demons, Faith. And not just the cuddly variety that you get to fight here. I am talking about real powerful nasty Demons. Demons who can do whatever they please whenever they want too."

"You mean the Old Ones?" Giles said with some horror to his voice.

"Yes," Belmovekk nodded, "Demons so powerful that even those who worship them feel the need to keep some stuff secret from them. After all, if one has to negotiate with a Demon, it pays to have some things remain hidden from them. Every Karand temple used to have a room covered in markings such as this, although they drew the markings in human blood. But that's not really necessary, it is just for show."

"Lucky us," Buffy said as she looked at the many markings and imagined the amounts of blood needed to draw them all.

"Fine," Faith said impatiently, "You've drawn your funny markings on the wall, you've told us a scary anecdote, what's this all got to do with the First Slayer?"

"Everything," Belmovekk said and pointed at the hall of records around them, "These halls contain records going back to Ra's occupation of Earth 10.000 years ago. And even before that. Together with documents that Master Giles secured for me from the Council these present the oldest known record of the real history of this planet. And I can tell you, it is different then what you were let to believe. Including the origin of the Slayer."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 12.000 years, galaxy NGC 3109

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1139.34 , science officer speaking."

"The Ilúvatar made system fall two hours ago after our probe reported sighting hinting of intelligent life. This has not been the first instance of such a thing occurring, as this galaxy seems to be teeming with life. There seems to be incredible numbers of planets here with intelligent life and we have found yet another one. In that sense this Galaxy seems to be a very good candidate for relocation of our city of Atlantis"

"The current planet we are investigating has lush green fields and forests, not seen since we abandoned our original home long ago. Some of the crew even suggested that we should notify Atlantis that we have found a prime candidate for the move. That is until they learned this world has ten times normal gravity. It's lucky we brought gravity neutralizing boots indeed!"

"Strangely enough, despite the high gravity our telescopes reveal that even here there are human like inhabitants, who live in primitive settlements. That humans can evolve under these kinds of condition is remarkable. The fact that their bodies don't show signs of being adapted to 10G's is even more remarkable."

"However there is something odd about this planet. Several odd things for that matter. First is the coincidence that this planet, which so much reminds us of our original home world, also has inhabitants that look so remarkably like us. It's a strange case of convergent evolution.."

"Secondly there seems to be something strange that has happened to this planet. Even though the current inhabitants live in primitive squalor, a cursory sensor glance at the planet's surface has revealed that there are literally thousands of sites full with the remnants of ancient cities which are no more. And many of them seem to be built right on top of earlier ruins. The record seems to be one place that my sensors said was built on top of at least twelve earlier destroyed sites. If I were to pose a guess I would say that something here causes the continued collapse of civilization."

"And thirdly there is the irregular orbit of the planet's moon. It is nothing special in size compared to the moon of the planet Earth we used to inhabit, It's just a very small moon. Most likely it's a captured planetoid that strayed too close to this planet. Just like the moons of the fourth planet of Earth's solar system."

"But what's odd with this moon is its strange irregular orbit. It orbits the planet at a very slow rate, which means it revolves around this planet once a year. That is way too slow for a moon to orbit a planet of this size. By all accounts it always stays in the dark side of the planet, never seeing sunlight. Or much of it anyway. This is highly improbable. By all accounts it should have crashed into this planets millions of year ago. It's even on a slowly decaying orbit as we speak off.

This is an interesting riddle that I would like to solve. Far more interesting then the planet itself which I will leave to the Ilúvatar's other scientists. Scientific officer out."

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1142.36, science officer speaking."

"We have made planetfall and parked the ship on a high mountain plateau that the locals seem to avoid. Chief anthropologist Priya claims it holds religious importance to them. Why, she doesn't know. I have to recommend her though for being able to make contact with the locals."

"She and others of the crew descended down the mountain and made contact with a local tribe. They are a smelly race of human like creatures, who live under extremely primitive conditions. They also happen to be very war like. Our team was immediately challenged to a duel within seconds of meeting them. Luckily chief anthropologist Priya is very experienced in handling first contact situations, including ones with warrior societies and she managed to diffuse the situation using skilful negotiation. As it turns she correctly understood that despite their primitive living conditions these people live in a very strictly regimented society where rules apply for everything. And that these apply to combat as well. We are very fortunate indeed to have her with us."

"Still, it's hard to comprehend that the ancestors of these people built some of the ruined cities we discovered. Chief archaeologist Magis and his team have begun excavating at the most promising site and he thinks there are even more layers underneath then we thought there were from space. Civilization here has indeed fallen multiple times. And as it turns out even more then we originally thought about."

"I am still puzzled by the planet's strange lunar orbit, and I have yet to find a clue."

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1147.01, science officer speaking."

"Chief anthropologist Priya made contact with the locals again. They call themselves the Saiya-jinn. Which in their language roughly translates as 'the People of the Moon'. She doesn't understand what it means other then that they fear the moon and refuse to speak about it."

"Chief anthropologist Priya also discovered something else. Those furry bands that we thought were primitive belts aren't belts at all. These people have actual tails! So there goes the convergent evolution theory. These people may look like us but they still differ from us."

Chief archaeologist Magis performed excavations at another site and again came upon several layers of cities being built on top of another. It's actually scary to read his reports. What could have caused their collapse? I'm starting to become more intrigued myself. Were these people invaded? While we have encountered several spacefaring civilizations in the area, none of them seem to be particularly aggressive."

"Magis today brought some examples today of some of the art that has been recovered from the first dig site. They were of exquisite design. He had placed them in a series that showed a remarkable progression in quality. When I remarked that this showed an improvement in both style and craftsmanship Magis corrected me and said it showed actually a regression. Magis told me that the finest examples of art came from the deepest layers and those of lesser quality came from the top. Again this example of continual cultural collapse.

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1149.21, science officer speaking."

"Today we managed to extract DNA from the locals and learned that these people are almost completely DNA compatible with us. We could actually mate with these people. This goes beyond convergent evolution, almost into, dare I say it? Intelligent design? No I dare not."

"It would also seem that the locals now know that we are on this plateau, for they left us some offerings of meat and fruits. The captain thinks that this is a sign that they trust us, Chief anthropologists Priya on the other hand thinks they might think we are gods. Henceforth the offerings. Having seen it myself I happen to agree."

"Chief archaeologist Magis today began cataloguing the finds of the second dig site and again came up with same pattern of crude craftsmanship in the top levels and superior craftsmanship in the deepest layer."

"On a side note I today discovered a cloud of asteroids moving through the system. I think they will pass close to this planet in fifteen days time. It should make for a spectacular sight. To bad we probably won't be here by then."

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1155.21, science officer speaking."

"Today we observed a fight between two rival groups. They met at a river, which seems to mark the boundary between their territories. One group strayed into hostile territory and then the other group attacked. Not directly, as a lot of rituals and formality was being observed. Nor did both groups attacked each other en masse. Instead each appointed a champion for them to fight. Then the two champions fought to until either the death, or until the loser would submit and give up. Then the group with the victor declared victory and the losing side withdrew."

"In itself that is not odd behaviour. We have observed similar kinds of behaviour in the past. In way its quite civilized because unlike regular warfare it spares the general population from the horrors of war."

"What was remarkable was the actual fighting itself. We have never seen anyone move quite as fast as these people could. Considering that these people are fairly normally built like us it should not be possible with the high gravity. We also never saw anyone be able to do the kinds of things these people could do. Showing highly advanced martial arts. Chief security officer Gayn is so impressed he wants to enlist these people in the war against the Wraith, thinking they could actually turn the tide."

"Now that we know these people have these strange fighting abilities Chief xenobiologist Aynd wants to examine one. Gayn thinks we should just stun one and grab one. Priya on the other hand fears we might lose the rapport we have build up and should instead seek to convince them to agree to an examination. In the end Captain Rand ruled out abduction for now, stating we are not the Wraith. But he did give Priya only three days time to convince one to be examined."

"News of our presence seems to have spread. Not only did we find more offerings at the plateau's edge, even chief archaeologist Magis today reported signs of offerings at his current dig site. And he's half a continent away."

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1158.13, science officer speaking."

"What incredible findings we made these past days. Chief anthropologist Priya managed to convince a man from a nearby local tribe to come with her to be examined. He seemed quite eager to show of his prowess."

"First he gave us a demonstration of his fighting abilities, again displaying superior speed and handling abilities which should not be possible despite the high gravity environment. And yet he did so with ease. He also showcased something we hadn't seen before. An ability for their bodies to generate energies and use it to push against objects. It's like telekinesis only he seems to do it with his body's natural energy."

"It has Chief xenobiologist Aynd absolutely enthralled though. She has a working hypothesis that somehow these Saiya-Jinn are able to both consciously and unconsciously harness the body's natural energies. She thinks that this is why despite the planet's high gravity their bodies are still sleek and slender, rather then short and stocky as it should be. That they compensate for the high gravity through increased bio-electrical energies instead of greater physical muscle mass. She also thinks that if you take one of these Saiya-Jinns to a planet with a more normal gravity then they would be able to harness those energies to even greater devastating effect."

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1159.05, science officer speaking."

"Today four more Saiya-Jinn males showed up on the plateau, demanding to be examined. It had us baffled until Chief anthropologists Priya spoke to them. She now thinks that her God hypothesis is correct and that the Saiya-Jinns now send their finest too us to be judged. At first the captain was sceptical but now, like me, he's inclined to agree with her."

"Chief archaeologist Magis began working at a fourth site, claiming he has again found one with many layers going back thousands of years. The man is unstoppable once he has dug in into a mystery. At least he will get the chance to explore it as the Captain has decided to extend our stay here to learn more about the strange energies that these Saiya-Jinn possess. He thinks they could be of some influence in our war with the Wraith."

"Concerning Magis' mystery, despite Priya's best efforts to learn more of the Saiya-Jinns' history they refuse to tell us of their myths and legends. Telling her that the 'Before time' is something that is best left taboo. Strange how these Saiya-Jinn are so willing to let themselves be examined by us and yet remain so mysterious regarding their own history.

"Well, since we are staying a little while longer I shall relish the chance to experience the meteorite swarm that will pass in five days time. It should be quite…. spectacular?

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1162.17, science officer speaking."

"We are making definite progress with these Saiya-Jinn here. So much so that the Captain is contemplating using our own Stargate to contact Atlantis and set up a permanent Stargate here. An army of these Saiya-Jinn has to be nearly invincible, just what we need to stem the tide against the Wraith's superior numbers."

"Unfortunately Chief security officer Gayn seems to have little success organizing these Saiya-Jinn into an army. Those that appear at the plateau all seem to be loners who refuse to work together. Even if they do come from the same tribe. Somehow the idea of fighting as an unit seems anathema to them. To bad one of them isn't so strong he can take on a whole army of Wraith by himself!"

x

* * *

x

"Science officer report, ASS Ilúvatar, mission time 1163.29, science officer speaking."

"I am so excited! Today I've solved the mystery of this planet's strange decaying lunar orbit! As the meteor cloud got close I discovered that suddenly this planet's moon began to rise again. It was like some unknown gravity well was lifting the moon up. It was spectacular! I've never experienced anything like it! This is pure science at its best!"

"What I discovered is that the meteor cloud is not a meteor cloud at all. It's a black dwarf star! They were thought to theoretically exist by this is the first confirmed case ever! It's the remnant of a collapsed star that turned into a white dwarf and then cooled down to the point of being virtually undetectable. It must be the oldest known star in the universe! And it passes right in front of me! I'm giddy with excitement!"

"It must have been captured by this star's gravity and now passes in a elliptical orbit through this solar system, capturing asteroids and meteors as it passes through the star's Oort cloud."

"But here's the truly genius part! As it passes through this system once every 227 years it comes close to this planet. And then it's gravity pulls on this planet's moon and lifts it into a higher orbit, thus preventing it from collapsing into this planet. I wouldn't be surprised if this moon wasn't originally part of the debris field surrounding the black dwarf that got captured by this planet instead. It _so_ explains so many things!"

"What's also interesting is that when the black dwarf passes this planet at its closest it will actually pull the moon so far up that it be lit by the local sun. So we will also get to see a full moon on this planet, one that only happens once every 227 years."

x

* * *

x

"Acting science officer ASS Ilúvatar reporting, mission time 1166.21, Chief archaeological officer speaking."

"It's been two days since the Event."

"I was on the sun side of the planet, together with Chief anthropologist Priya working on the dig site when I noticed an odd pattern. Using advanced carbon dating performed by our second engineer I discovered that each layer was separated by the next one by a strict margin of 227 years. Like clockwork the city would be destroyed, another would be built over it, more crude then its predecessor and then 227 years later it would be destroyed as well."

"I immediately cross checked these findings with the ones of my other three digs and while not as conclusive as the results of this dig, the 227 year pattern more or less held up. And then I remembered our Science officer's discovery of the black star passing near this planet every 227 years. I tried to call the Ilúvatar but got no response. Then Priya and her team came by and told me the natives were getting restless. That something was about to happen. So we immediately abandoned the dig site and used the explorer module to return to the Ilúvatar, which just happened to be at the planet's night side."

"By the time we got there we learned the awful truth about why civilizations collapse every 227 years, why the Ilúvatar wasn't responding and why the Saiya-Jinn are called the People of the Moon."

"It would seem that when this black dwarf causes the planet's moon to be exposed to the sun and become a full moon the Saiya-Jinn change physically. And I don't mean this in a modest sense, like grow some sharper teeth, they actually transform into huge towering mindless monster apes! Who trample everything underfoot and belch up fiery balls of energy that can destroy anything."

"No wonder civilizations fall. With a pattern like this what civilization could survive? No wonder civilizations became cruder each time as knowledge got lost. And no wonder these people eventually gave up on civilization all together."

"When we arrived at the Ilúvatar we found our ship to be soundly trashed. Probably because our presence drew the Saiya-Jinn to us to begin with. We were unable to land as it was just too dangerous. We were shot at by these apes at least half a dozen times so we had to retreat into planetary orbit and wait for the black dwarf to pass."

"After the black dwarf had passed we returned to the wreck of the Ilúvatar to look for survivors. Thankfully we found at least seven survivors, including Chief engineer Ross who has managed to rescue the spare ZPM."

"After we had landed and began examining the wreck of the Ilúvatar some of the local Saiya-Jinn came by and apologized for what happened. That the moon had exacted its curse on them again. I guess in the end it doesn't matter. For better or for worse we are now stranded here. And I guess we should count our blessings. At least now we'll be safe for at least 227 years."

x

* * *

x

"This is the personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"It has been ten years since the Event that destroyed the Ilúvatar and left us stranded in this system. It's been ten hard but very satisfying years as we adapt to leaving on the Green Planet, as the Saiya-Jinn call it. Well, maybe I shouldn't say we, as it's been mostly me who has adapted."

"These past ten years I have spent mostly wandering with the local tribes of Saiya-Jinn and I have come to admire them greatly. I know some of the other survivors call them oafish brutes but I have come to know them as warm caring individuals, who love their families greatly, even if they are terribly harsh to those newborn infants who they find lacking, which they often abandon."

"To a normal person this would seem barbaric and uncaring. But I am still a trained anthropologist and I was taught to look beyond the moral confines of our own society and seek the ones of the society I am trying to study. And it tells me that life here on the green planet is hard and unforgiving. Only the strongest survive here, especially with the 227 year cycle on top of that. So there is no room, nor resources, for the weak."

"And yet as I travel among them I find that these practices do not come lightly to them. A family that abandons a child that is too weak does so with great visible pain in their hearts. But they know they have too, for the greater good of the tribe. Loyalty to family, friends and the tribe goes before everything. And you can have no greater friend then a Saiya-Jinn as I've discovered with my good friend Aang."

"Aang is a Seeker, a Saiya-Jinn who lives alone and travels from tribe to tribe seeking knowledge. Usually martial arts techniques. While the tribes can be fiercely territorial when it comes to their neighbours, they seem to tolerate these Seekers whom they hold in high regard. If there is any modicum of civilization left, it's because these Seekers continue to spread them. Probably because in their case knowledge actually is power."

"I came upon Aang shortly after the Event when I found him not far from the wreck of the Ilúvatar. He appears to have been wounded during the Event, as the Saiya-Jinn apes often turn on each other, and was close to dying. Sharing some of my food and offering the aid of my auto-healer I was able to restore him back to life and he has been my faithful companion ever since, thinking himself my bodyguard."

"Together we have been travelling the Green Planet, going from tribe to tribe, seeking knowledge. Him trying to learn new martial arts techniques so he can fulfil his quest of becoming the best martial artist ever, me trying to better understand these people."

"I had completely lost track of time during this time. It has been the scientific journey of my life. I found that while the Event caused many, if not half of the Saiya-Jin to get killed, the lose tribal structure of their society probably allows them to better survive as a culture then the earlier cities did. And this, as it turns out, was by design!"

"Aang introduced me to various tribal elders who told me stories of a mysterious ruler of a mythical city who had figured out the Cycle. This ruler managed to predict the next Event and led his people into safety in specially constructed caves. Thus they survived as other Saiya-Jinn, transformed in their ape state rampaged through their city. Figuring that the next time his people would not be so lucky he ordered for them to abandon the cities. That only by living in small scattered tribal communities could the Saiya-Jinn survive as a culture. It seems strange but it works. Even now I see how the tribes reform and regroup. Some tribes get assimilated into bigger tribes, others split, forming new ones, but the Saiya-Jinn as a whole endure."

"Aang and me were near a small community near the Eastern sea when we suddenly spotted something I'd never expected to see again. It was a puddle jumper!"

x

* * *

x

Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"It's been three days since we spotted the puddle jumper."

"The Ilúvatar carried two puddle jumpers in addition to the larger science module so we could move about a planet after the ship had landed. But both of them had been aboard the Ilúvatar when she was destroyed, only the science module remained as our sole mode of transport throughout this solar system. I had seen the damage done to the puddle jumpers and they were beyond any hope of repair. Which meant that the only way for a puddle jumper to be here was if they had come from Atlantis."

"Upon seeing the puddle jumper I activated the personal beacon I still carried in my med bracelet, after which it came down. I was greeted by one of the pilots, who was a junior scientist aboard the Ilúvatar, but the biggest shock turned out to be the other pilot, who I recognized back from Atlantis. Which meant that my suspicion was right. The puddle jumper had indeed come here from Atlantis. But they told me that soon enough anyway."

"Apparently the war with the Wraith had deteriorated badly after the Ilúvatar had left the Pegasus galaxy to the point that the Wraith had overrun all our remaining outposts and then laid siege to Atlantis itself. The decision was taken to abandon Atlantis, sink the city into the ocean and return back to Earth. Only to discover that a new foe was waiting for us there."

"It was around that time, the darkest hour of our race, that the survivors of the Ilúvatar managed to jury-rig a Stargate and contact the others. And that is how I wound up back at the plateau where the wreck of the Ilúvatar still was. Only this time it was a sprawling city full of both Saiya-Jinn and Lanteans alike."

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"As I arrived in this new city I was greeted by many of my friends and former colleagues who thought that by now I was dead. For ten years I had been living out on the green plains with Aang without any technical support and they thought that by now the gravity neutralizers had stopped working without recharging. Great was their surprise when I told them I had stopped using them years ago. I didn't go cold turkey of course, but by doing it gradually and with the aid of Aang I managed to overcome the gravity and feel fine about. In fact I now feel better then ever. The idea alone that it was possible had them quite shocked."

"Next I was taken to the city administrator, Namath, who used to command our biggest outpost around the time the Ilúvatar left Atlantis. He greeted me warmly and congratulated me on surviving for this long on my own. We talked about what I had been up to these past ten years. Then he offered me a job again as chief anthropologist. I laughed him in his face. He then pleaded with me using the plight of our people. After which I laughed some more. The war with the Wraith was over as they had abandoned the Pegasus Galaxy to go back to Earth. Now they were as well. What plight was there?"

"Boy, was I in for a treat!"

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"Okay, so the Earth and parts of the galaxy are overrun with demons and my people went from fighting one losing war straight into another. What were they thinking? The Wraith, our backwards cousins back at the homeworld and the plague weren't problematic enough? Now they had to add fighting Demons from other dimensions to it as well?"

"Faced with the new plight of our people I relented and agreed to become chief anthropologist again. And because, I have to admit it, I could never say no to science."

x

* * *

x

"This is the personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"Okay, something odd is going on here."

"What is the point of this city I wonder? I mean, if this was a refuge from the Wraith and the Earth Demons I could understand it. But most of the city seems temporary. And I hear a lot of talk in the cafeteria about going back to Earth, about the war against the demons. I've even heard a few talk of retaking the Pegasus galaxy from the Wraith. I'm starting to have suspicions about this place. I wish Aang was here .

"In the week that I've been here I've socialized a few other survivors from the Ilúvatar. While it has been fun meeting old friends again I can't help but notice how much they have changed. The war on Earth is all they talk about. Or maybe it is I who has changed?"

"I had a weird incident the first time I went to work in a 1G environment again, I smashed two computers before I learned to control myself. They sent me to medical and to their surprise, and mine, they discovered that I now also had some of the same increased energies and strengths that the Saiya-Jinn have. The doctor thinks this is because of my constant exposure to the planet's 10G gravity. Could it be that easy?"

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"I _knew_ something was wrong here. I knew it!"

"Despite me giving extensive reports and detail about Saiya-Jinn culture, administrator Namath is only interested in the martial aspects. He then said I was to be transferred to another facility, on the other side of the mountain. I was to report there to administrator Na'toth."

"The other facility, Camp D, is totally different. From the outside it looks more like a prison then a research facility. And that's because it is!"

"Administrator Na'toth showed me around the place and was very open about. So much so that I had to hide my astonishment at the brazen openness at what they were doing here. Then again, why should I have been surprised? This was why we stayed on the Green Planet longer then we should have in the first place. We Lanteans are drawn to things we can use, and abuse, like moths to a flame."

"To put it simply, Camp D is a research facility where Lanteans experiment with Saiya-Jinn women. And in ways that are too horrible to even imagine. And why women one might ask? Because they find them easier to control."

"Administrator Na'toth showed me the room where they expose these girls to the simulated light of a full moon to trigger the transformation. Naturally this would be to absurd to even contemplate. Who in his right mind wants transformed Saiya-Jinn running around? Right? They have found that if they drug these women just the right way the transformed beast becomes docile enough to be controlled. Or that at least is the theory. They're not that far yet. Something is holding the women back. Once they succeed however they plan to use the Saiya-Jinn as cannon fodder against the Demons and maybe even the Wraith as well."

"I was so much appalled that I came close to attacking administrator Na'toth. Instead I just asked why I was needed here. I'm just an anthropologist. I don't know why I said that. Why I didn't give him a piece of my mind or even worse. Was I too cowardly to speak out? Why did I submit instead of rebel?"

"Administrator Na'toth said that he thought my ten year experience of living amongst the Saiya-Jinn gave me an unique insight in the specimens, he actually called them that, one that was sorely needed amongst the xeno-biologists that had worked on the girls so far. Again, instead of speaking out I just said yes, like a good little Lantean scientist should."

"I disgust myself."

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"I spoke with some of the Saiya-Jinn girls today. They think they are pleasing the Gods, that's us that is. In most cultures we have come across that usually means fulfilling a sexual role, as matriarchy is a rare thing. And while Saiya-Jinn culture allows its women more freedoms then most, it's still a male dominated society. While I have seen women being allowed to fight, they tend to do so as part of male dominated war bands. Even when a woman is exceptional enough to lead a war band she will still mostly lead men. And while Saiya-Jinn women can be competitive, go out hunting and be quite vicious even amongst themselves, they still tend to be subservient towards the men. I guess that's why they chose to experiment on women, not men."

"While the girls are more then eager to please us 'Lantean Gods' I noticed a reluctance coming from them which is highly unlike Saiya-Jinn women. Normally amongst each other you can't get them to shut up. These girls are unnaturally quiet. I feel this is something I should explore."

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"I've had many a conversation with the Saiya-Jinn girls here at Camp D. I was more convinced then ever that these girls are holding back something. But I couldn't figure out what. It had me torn for weeks. On the one hand I was glad, because this whole project disgusts me in every fibre of my being. On the other hand, like the good obedient little Lantean that I am I was intrigued by this puzzle. I wanted to solve it. I really do! How do I even sleep at night?"

"Just when I was about to hit rock bottom and do what I should have done in the first place I went outside for a walk and sat down looking at the moon. I did this often out on the green plains, much to Aang's amazement. He never understood why anyone would look at the thing that caused so much trouble for Saiya-Jinn like him. He hated the damn thing. Because of what it could turn him into. All the more so because he had recently experienced it."

"And that's when it hit me. That's why the girls were holding back! They too had experienced the full moon before. They knew the pain and shame of the transformation. Maybe if they never had seen before and it had just been a story they might have committed fully. But after the events of a decade ago, seeing their society shattered, loved ones dead or missing….."

"I should have left it at that. I had solved the puzzle. Walk away from there. But no, I had to see this through till the end!"

"I talked to one of the girls, told her that I understood her reticence, related my experience with Aang, how I really miss him, then I did the really disgusting thing and convinced her that submitting to the moon's light was not a shame. That it was a natural thing to do, and above all it was what the Gods wanted of her. I felt so vile."

"But it seems to have worked. Namath reports that since my talk they've had great improvements with the girls. Soon they may achieve what they have come here to get. An army of obedient transformed Saiya-Jinn to fight their wars for them. When I realized that my curiosity had condemned these girls I went back to my room and drank myself to sleep. What have I done?"

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"While all the girls have made great progress, there is one who's ahead of all the others. Which is funny because when you look at her you'd think she's the runt of the litter. But when she's transformed Namath swears she's almost in complete control. Of course, when he says almost he doesn't really mean it. After spending a year studying these transformed Saiya-Jinn in their feral nature he doesn't really believe she might be sapient in that state. To tell the truth, neither do I. "

"And yet….."

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"I observed that girl again. When I watched as close as I dared she transformed something strange happened. For a moment, the briefest of moments, I could have sworn that her eyes turned blue green for a moment. It was also a moment that her power spiked to absurdly high levels. Na'toth has tried to recreate the moment but has failed so far, leading him to conclude that it might have been a fluke."

"I am not so sure myself to dismiss it this eagerly. Something strange is going on here. I can feel it. Even the other Saiya-Jinn girls seem to feel it as they now shun the girl. I feel like I am back on the Ilúvatar again, in those days when we first detected the black dwarf and thought it was going to be fascinating. And boy, did we pay the price for that."

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"With the project nearing completion I decided to leave and return to the city. Disgusted as I am with the project, if I can't live with the consequences of my actions at least now I won't have to look at them any more."

"Yet out of sight does not mean out of mind as far as my conscience is concerned. I hide in a small apartment and only alcohol's sweet embrace helps me sleep at night."

"It was after a heavy bout of drinking that I woke up and suddenly looked into Aang's concerned face. I thought I was dreaming. Aang here? Last time we saw each other was at the shores of the Eastern Sea. It took us ten years to travel there. There's no way he travelled to here in less then ten weeks."

"And yet he did. Aang, my good friend, how I've missed you!"

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting."

"All is not well in this city."

"Aang told me that despite the awe and reverence the Saiya-Jinn have for us Lanteans, many are growing dissatisfied with their arrogance. If I had heard this on any other planet but here I would not have believed this. But the Saiya-Jinn have a very….., 'direct' relationship with their gods. If their personal god does not deliver it's not beyond them to curse them and turn to a different deity. As we do not believe in gods, yet observe many around us who do so at a very profound level, it's beyond us Lanteans to realize that we might have pushed the God button a little way too much."

"I told Aang what was happening at Camp D, what they were doing to the girls there. He shared my outrage and together we came up with a plan. This evil would stop here, right now. Tomorrow night we storm Camp D!"

x

* * *

x

"Administrator Mobiros, head of the board of inquiry dealing with the NGC 3109 Galaxy disaster reporting. In the case of administrators Namath and Na'toth's we the board come to the following conclusion:"

"Regarding the charge that gross negligence of the part of administrators Namath and Na'toth in regards to the renegade, Priya Anhali we find that there was no grounds for suspicions that her loyalties had changed. For weeks she performed the tasks that were set out for her, which eventually led to the breakthrough. There was no cause for administrators Namath and Na'toth that she would lead a rebellion of the local Saiya-Jinn against Lantean rule and Camp D in particular. We hereby clear both administrators Namath and Na'toth of these charges."

"In regards to gross negligence in regards to the security of both Main base and Camp D the board concludes that while there was much to be left desirable in regards to both base's security, based on previous experience with the Saiya-Jinn, an attack seemed unlikely. Administrator Namath also stated for the record that he did request for additional security measures but was denied so by the Council."

"As for what happened on the fateful night the board has concluded the following: That the renegade Priya Anhali and her rebel Saiya-Jinn penetrated Camp D's security using her still active security codes and made for the testing area. There they tried to free the test subjects and in doing so caused an incident whereby her rebel Saiya-Jinn were exposed to the simulated lunar emissions and transformed. In the process Camp D was destroyed, half the staff killed and the test subjects escaped with the rest of the rebel Saiya-Jinn."

"As the survivors retreated back to Main Base they were chased by some of the transformed Saiya-Jinn, upon which the Saiya-Jinn in the city rose up. Using the last test subject administrator Namath drove off the rebellious Saiya-Jinn, but knew he could not hold out indefinitely. As the de-transformed rebels regrouped under the renegade Priya Anhali's leadership administrator Namath decided to evacuate back through the Stargate. We conclude that in doing so he probably saved the lives of the rest of the expedition and we recommend administrator Namath for his quick thinking."

"Since renewed attempts to reopen the Stargate in the NGC 3109 Galaxy have proven unsuccessful we conclude that the renegade Priya Anhali has most likely sabotaged the gate there to deny us renewed access. Since we lack the resources to send another expedition to the NGC 3109 galaxy we recommend that further attempts to exploit the resources there be terminated. Instead we recommend to direct all attempts on using the specimen that administrator Na'toth managed to bring back instead."

"This board inquiry is hereby officially concluded."

x

* * *

x

"And? How did it go?" former administrator Na'toth asked as the former administrator Namath returned from the board of inquiry.

"It was as we expected," Namath said as he sat down in a chair, "They cleared our names. There was nothing we could have done to foresee what had happened."

"Other then you not sending that bitch Anhali to me," Na'toth scoffed.

"Not funny," Namath said annoyed, then he continued, "Oh, and don't expect another expedition to the NGC 3109 galaxy. Moribos used the board to finally kill off that idea. The bastard was always against it and now he got what he wanted."

"Is he still riding that physical ascension bandwagon of his?" Na'toth asked.

"He claims he's very close," Namath sighed.

"Well, maybe we don't have to go back," Na'toth said and activated a view screen, "Look what she did!"

On the viewing screen there were scenes of a lone Saiya-Jinn girl, standing in a large arena. Then five massive demons entered the arena.

"Those were taken when the Alliance took back the Rigel system," Na'toth said excited, now look what happens when we activate her neck bracelet."

On the viewing screen the girl suddenly began to transform into a giant ape. Like all Saiya-Jinn did when exposed to the light of a full moon.

"Are you dousing the place in full moon light," Namath asked, to which Na'toth shook his head.

"We no longer need actual full moon light," he said excited, "all we need is the correct electro stimulation through the neck bracelet and it will trigger the tail glands. But look!"

Once she was fully transformed the girl roared defiantly at the demons. And then she transformed again, this time her fur coat turned to gold and she got surrounded by golden flames of energy. She then charged into the demons and utterly ripped them apart from limb to limb."

"Impressive, huh?" Na'toth said eagerly as he looked at a spellbound Namath, "I wish I knew what that bitch Anhali did when she tried to take our specimens but in her case it backfired and caused this new transformation in this girl. She now alone makes up more the loss of the other specimens. She actually has insane amounts of power now. In this state she's like a ZPM on legs."

"You have got to be kidding me?" Namath said shocked.

"Do I ever?" Na'toth said deadpan and pointed to the screen, "I can tell you know, Namath, this girl is now our ticket at taking back Earth."

x

* * *

x

"Personal journal of Priya Anhali, former Chief anthropologist, ASS Ilúvatar reporting, final entry."

"I am dying."

"Before my time it would seem. I guess the medical bracelet can't fix constant exposure to 10 G's of gravity to one who is not naturally accustomed to it. But it's okay, I am at peace with it."

"Much has changed since Aang and I led the Saiya-Jinn in a rebellion against my fellow Lanteans who were exploiting them. After they fled through the Stargate I de-activated the device and considering the desperate state my people were in I don't think they will ever come back. The Saiya-Jinn are now free to live their lives from their corrupting influence."

"And yet their corruption remains. For the Saiya-Jinn are now no longer content to live in small tribes. They want more. And there is still one form of Lantean corruption on these people."

"Me."

"The Saiya-Jinn now revere me as a sort of half-god who delivered them from evil and look to me for council. Now that they have learned from the Lantean experiments that it is possible to control their transformations they seem dead set on replicating that feat. They're also impressed by what happened to that one girl at Camp D, the one who transformed into something even more terrible. She's already becoming the stuff of legends. The Legendary I've heard them call her."

"I have tried to help these people as best as I could. I taught them everything I knew about the Cycle, about the strange black dwarf that rampages through this system and once every 227 years drags this planet's moon out in the open, where it catches the light of the sun and becomes a full moon. That the transformation gets triggered by a gland in their tail. And that it has been the cause of the fall of their civilization. Repeatedly! Now that they fully know they seem eager to overcome this challenge. And if there is one thing that these Saiya-Jinn love it's a good challenge."

"I know that the Saiya-Jinn venerate me. No matter how many times I've tried to tell them that I am not a God or the prophet of one they continue to worship me. Mothers bring forth their children and ask me to bless them, wise men come to me for council, rivaling tribes ask me to mediate. Even now thousands are gathered outside my tent as they await my death, firm in the belief that once my physical body dies I will transcend and become their God. Try living up to those expectations!"

"I've tried running away, but they won't let me. I've tried talking them out of it and it only seems to re-affirm their faith. By now I have come to accept my fate and I've spent the past decades trying to come up with something, anything, that will guide this faith into proper channels. If it is my fate to become the Goddess of these people then I might as well come up with all the proper teachings and gospels before others, less scrupulous people, do it for me. I wish I had another lifetime to refine them further, but I don't. I hope that what I create will be able to stand the test of time and those who seek to abuse my name for their own good."

"I wish Aang were here. Dear, sweet Aang. But he died years ago of old age. Which I never saw coming as these Saiya-Jinn don't age physically very much once they reach adulthood. Aang had to have been way past middle age when we first met."

"But he left me with a son, Be'ijita, who has taken up his father's legacy. As one of the leaders of the rebellion Aang has garnered quite some influence and as both his son and mine he stands to be a pretty powerful man. All the more reason why I spent decades molding and shaping him to prevent him from getting perverted by the power. And to help shape my impending religion into the right direction. With any new religion, while it's the 1st generation that creates it, it's the 2nd generation that molds and shapes that religion for the generations that comes after it. It's upon Be'ijita to make sure my legacy does not get perverted. I just hope that…"

Putting down the recording device Priya Anhali, last of the Lanteans on the Green Planet, began to cough. She put her hand in front of her mouth and noticed that she was coughing up blood. At this point she didn't need a medical bracelet to tell her that she was going to die. Only a Lantean medical facility could save her now and there were none.

"Be'ijita…..," Priya called out weakly, "I…"

Then Priya Anhali, last of the Lanteans on the Green Planet died. Next thing her son, Be'ijita entered the tent, knelt by her bed and checked her vitals. Feeling none he gently closed her eyes, kissed her forehead tenderly as he allowed a single tear to fall down his cheek, then he got up and left the tent. Outside there were thousands of Saiya-Jinn who got up as soon as they saw Be'ijita emerge from the tent.

"Our beloved mother is no longer with us," Be'ijita said resolute as he held his arms, "She has passed on to the afterlife and is now reborn."

As the assembled devoted multitude outside gave expression to their grief, inside the tent something happened. From Priya Anhali's lifeless body, a light began to shine, then the light arose and left her body.

x

* * *

x

Personal log, administrator Namath, New Atlantis, Earth.

"It has been a long fight but we have retaken Earth and cleaned the Galaxy of the demon infestation, in no small thanks to the monstrous powers of the Saiya-Jinn warrior. But our dreams of using her to retake the Pegasus galaxy and Atlantis have been foiled. On two fronts."

"For some strange reason the power of the Saiya-Jinn girl seems to increase every time she transforms to the point that we can no longer control her. In that sense it is fortunate that we have defeated the demons out there. For we cannot risk sending her into battle again. Na'toth now reckons she is so powerful that she might actually tear the planet apart that she's on if we were to lose control."

"As a result we have placed her in a controlled coma. For even when not transformed she has grown unruly and rebellious. While she loves to fight demons Na'toth suspects she misses her own kind and home planet. She has already tried to escape once and while doing so almost managed to transform without the stimulus of her control collar."

"It is most unfortunate that we cannot use her no more. For while the demons from other dimensions have been beaten back from Earth and we managed to close the interdimensional gateways, during their reign on this world they conducted some experiments of their own with the local humans. We don't know why or to what end, as none of them seems to have produced a particularly powerful hybrid, but many of these demon hybrids remain on this world, hiding, and sometimes preying upon the local humans. Like with the interdimensional demons our technology is unable to deal with these hybrid demons. Only the power of the Saiya-Jinn girl can really deal with them."

"Meanwhile we lose more and more of our people to Mobiros' newfound ascension. The old goat has finally found a way to shed our mortal bodies and reach a new level of existence. Great was his shock when he learned that the Others, our backwards cousins from back home, already learned how to do this. So more and more of us are ascending, tired of life on this physical plane. And because only through ascension can they hope to stop our backwards cousins from coming to this Galaxy."

"This leaves only a small group of us to continue the war against the demons. Which makes it even more unfortunate that we can no longer use the Saiya-Jinn girl. It means we have to rely even more on our human assistants, the demon watchers. But Na'toth is ever more creative. He and his team have extensively studied demon magic and think they can transfer her essence into a human. And by doing so create a less powerful version of her, capable of continuing the fight against the hybrids."

x

* * *

x

Personal log, administrator Namath, New Atlantis, Earth.

"Today we transferred the essence of the Saiya-Jinn girl into another human test subject. She has been genetically altered with two retro viruses after the failure of the previous test subject. The first to allow for the introduction of Saiya-Jinn DNA into the human population, the second, and even more important, to act as a check against the influence of these genes. As it turns out humans are extremely susceptible to Saiya-Jinn DNA and the girl proved unable to cope with the massive power influx. Her pain receptors literally killed her from pain overload. Luckily we were able to rescue the essence of the Saiya-Jinn girl and transfer it into this girl. So far the test subject seems stable. Soon we will know if we have succeeded."

x

* * *

x

Personal log, administrator Namath, New Atlantis, Earth. Final entry.

"The transfer was a success. The girl not only lives, she's showing remarkable increases in strength. She is everything we had hoped for, our warrior in the fight with the remaining demons. Too bad we cannot create a small army like her, as she has nowhere near the power of the Saiya-Jinn girl when transformed. Luckily the remaining demon hybrids require nowhere near that amount of power. Although there does remain the chance that through sheer numbers they might overwhelm and kill her."

"But Na'toth has planned for that contingency as well. As a final step he has created an airborne version of the retro viruses that will spread to the general human population. It will attach itself only to a small number of human females, who just happened to have the right kind of genetic receptability, genetically altering them to be susceptible for the transfer of the essence. While small enough to be controllable it will be large enough to serve as a replacement pool for his other plan. By using demon magic he has made the Saiya-Jinn essence transferable. Upon death of what he has termed the Slayer it will transfer to a random next candidate. It will only affect human females for two reasons, because they tend to be more controllable, and because the retro viruses doesn't seem to take hold in human males."

"Unfortunately it's selection cannot be controlled, but that was the best solution he could come up with considering our limited grasp of demon magic and the limited time we have left in this physical plane. By now most of our kind have ascended, tired of the constant battle against everything we encounter. Only a few small groups have remained, including ours, still dedicated to securing this planet and the Galaxy from future demon infestation. And soon that number will dwindle even further as most of us have decided that they can devote themselves to that task even better when ascended. Only a few of us will remain behind to help shape the human demon watchers into something that will be able to look after itself and Na'toth's Slayer without our direct leadership."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 241

x

"What?" Buffy exclaimed after she had heard the tale that Belmo had reconstructed from these old documents, "So let me get this straight. This supposed demon that they stuck in us isn't some demon after all? It's a watered down Super Saiyan?"

"The Legendary Super Saiyan in fact," Belmovekk replied, "the very first. The one that became the stuff of legends, that drove Vegeta's quest for power. She was the very first one and they took her from my world and used her as a weapon first, and then as a template to create the Slayer. Your battle instincts are Saiyan, young lady, they're the source of your power. Transferring from one potential to the other throughout the ages."

"I….., um…," Buffy said speechless as she grabbed her chair to steady herself. Meanwhile Faith spoke up.

"Okay, I get it," she said less shaken by Belmovekk's revelation, "So I'm part Saiyan. But why don't I get a tail? And if she's the first Slayer, why do I see her like she's some bush bitch straight out of the jungle?"

"Because you are not a direct copy of the Legendary Super Saiyan," Belmovekk explained, "They took elements from her and turned her into something different, something a little more… human perhaps? Also, it wouldn't do to have her crop us as the Legendary Super Saiyan in your dreams. You wouldn't have a common frame of reference. So they probably modified her dream appearance as well. From what I was able to discern those Ancient scientists and mages were pretty big on control. Only Aldur might know how many safeguards and obfuscations they built into the template they took from her."

"How about Super Saiyan?" Faith asked, "Does this mean that I could go Super Saiyan too?"

"I have no clue," Belmovekk said as he shook his head, "I would not count on it if I were you. Like I said, there is no telling what those Ancients did to the template, what they changed and what they omitted. I have been keeping track of the progress each of you has made over these past years and other then giving a slight initial boost and a somewhat higher rate of advancement there does not seem to be much difference between training a Slayer versus a regular human, like those soldiers."

"Hmm," Faith said somewhat disappointed, then she looked at Buffy, "So, B. whaddaya think?"

To which Buffy said nothing as she was lost in her thoughts.

"I think the Buffster's too busy coming to terms that she might be related to the Big Guy after all," Xander said, then he looked at Belmovekk, "Okay, that explains the Slayers. But how about me? Where does my Saiyan gene come from? How come I get all the fun stuff, like a Saiyan tail? And don't tell me it's just leftover from that stupid spell."

"Well, that is a different story altogether," Belmovekk said, "but not so different as you might think. Let me take you back to a story I once told you before."

x

* * *

x

France 1764

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"I arrived in Paris a few days ago. What a different city it is from London, both in spirit and appearance. So much more vibrant, and alive then cold dreary London. I have to also admit that it feels strange to be in the capital of the very country I had fought against for these past years. Yet the Parisiéns seem friendly and bear me no ill will despite my British nationality. If anything they blame their own king for the war."

"I met with the French head of the Watcher's Council today and he welcomed me to Paris. Then he told me the bad news and immediately handed me a new assignment. Apparently the current Slayer had been killed in Constantinople and none of the projected Potentials has been activated. This means that an unknown Potential has been activated somewhere anywhere actually. Which means that the whole Council is currently up in arms looking for her. And as it so happens the French head thinks that she might be somewhere in France. So it was welcome to Paris mes ami, now off to the provinces! When I protested that I was barely in the country and just passing through he told me that thanks to the war he was dangerously understaffed and that as a former soldier I should know when to shut up when receiving my marching orders."

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"I may have only been in Paris for a few days and be impressed, but I recognize a provincial town when I see one. Besançon is bereft of anything remotely interesting other then its local cuisine. I feel like I'm being exiled."

"Tomorrow I travel on to a small village near Besançon, where rumour has it that the new Slayer now lives. With my current luck it's probably a dead end. I console myself that all across the world fellow watchers are skulking about on similar errands, all desperately trying to find the next Slayer."

"The sooner I get this over with, the better."

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"Good God! I have found the Slayer! The actual honest to God Slayer!"

"When I traveled to the village I met the parish priest, who told me that the daughter of the Marquis de Besançon, who lives nearby, had confessed to him having strange dreams of fighting vampires and demons. These are usually the tell tales of a newly activated Slayer, but some Potentials are known to have such dreams as well around the time that a new Slayer gets called. It is thought to be a sign that they were considered for calling but got passed over. While rare it does happen."

"I'm amazed at the readiness of the local parish priest to betray her confession, which I was taught in the Catholic faith is a sacred act. But it would seem the French Catholic church does things differently from the Roman Catholic church. And the French Catholic church seems awfully chummy with the French department of the Watcher's Council. It's probably why despite having less Watchers then most other departments they still get things done. Having all the local priests available as intelligence gatherers can be a major asset. Having said that I still think the man's a cretin for abrogating the sacred act of confession."

"So I traveled on to the chateau of the Marquis de Besançon. I found the marquis and his son and heir not at home, the son attending military academy and the father already serving in the French army. That left only the mother to introduce myself to. A charming woman I might add, but not a very bright one. I easily conned my way into her trust using the techniques taught to me by my trainers at the Council."

"I then met the daughter, who's only function in this family seems to be to get married to a more influential family. As soon as possible that is! Other then that her family cares very little for her. Which meant that the girl, Victoria, was starved for attention and very open to my expression of interest. I managed to gain her trust and she told me of the dreams she's been having. And then she showed me the coup de grace, her torn corset which she tore out off around the time she had those dreams. This girl is the Slayer alright!"

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"I secured the permission of the mother to take the girl with me. The official cover story is that I will take her to one of the best prep schools in all of France. Unofficially of course I am to take her to the Council for training and re-assigning. Frankly I'm amazed that I got her so easily. Madame de Besançon must have been desperate to get rid of her. I have heard of this before, how Slayers of noble birth are easier to obtain from their parents then those of common descent, but this is the first time I have actually witnessed it. I am ashamed to say that I am ashamed of my own class that we place so little stock in our own children."

"On the way back to Paris I quickly learned why the mother was so desperate to get rid of her daughter, she is incredibly headstrong and loath to obey orders. I pity the watcher who has to be in charge of her. But I do confess her strong opinions do make for interesting conversations to while away the long journey towards Paris. I have not been so 'intellectually challenged' since the days of my Cambridge debating club. Or when I was debating captured French officers during the war."

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"Today I tested the new Slayer in combat during our stopover for the night at Dijon. I took her to patrolling the streets with me and just when I thought there were no vampires in this town we were attacked. Luckily for her it was but a newborn as she had quite some difficulty handling the fiend. And luckily for her her Slayer instincts staved off defeat. Even though there were times I considered jumping in. But in the end she came through and killed the vampire. She then looked at me with eyes that told me that now she understood. That she had finally found her purpose in life. That she was not useless after all. I must admit that I found that discovery to be exhilarating myself. It is not everyday that you give purpose to a life. Even if it is only destined to be a short and brutal one."

"After that she wanted to comb Dijon looking for the newborn's sire. Because where there are newborns, there are also the elder ones who sire them. But I didn't think it was prudent for her to take on a real vampire, let alone the possibility of a master vampire. Not without her receiving more training that is. When I told her that she demanded that I train her on the spot. What a delightful girl. I showed her some of the stuff that I was taught in the army. Fencing, that sort of stuff. She surprised me at the speed with which she picked it up. These Slayers are amazing!"

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"What is it with France? It seems to be overrun with vampires these days. We ran into more vampires in both Auxerre and Melun. I'm starting to understand why the French head of the Council was so strapped for manpower. I'm glad that Victoria is such a fast learner, while we were in Auxerre I had to jump in to save the fight but in Melun she deftly handled things herself."

"We finally reached Paris and I presented Victoria to the French department head of the Council. I fully expected her to be transferred over to a real Watcher, but great was my surprise when he assigned me to be her permanent Watcher. When I protested that I was only a fairly new Watcher, having been recruited from the army at the end of the war, and that I lacked seniority he laughed away my objections. He stated that he had no Watchers to spare to begin with and that it was Council policy to pair a Slayer off to the first Watcher that came into contact with her. Unless he was a Searcher. Since I wasn't the latter, that now made me her official Watcher."

"Great!"

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"The French department head of the Council wasn't lying when he said he had no Watchers to spare. Victoria and me were awarded only a few days to outfit her with the tools of her trade and for some training, then we were shipped off to the provinces again. France is awash with vampires since the end of the war and with the previous Slayers being too far away the Council had been unable to really do something about it. And now that he had an actual Slayer the French department head seemed eager to exploit this sudden windfall."

"After leaving Paris we travelled through various cities of Eastern France, Meaux, Troyes, Reims, Saint-Dizier, Châlons sur Marne, Verdun, Strasbourg, Metz, Thionville, Epinal, Mézieres, Charleville, Laon, Soissons, Saint-Quentin, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Roubaix, Lille, Amiens, Compiègne, Noyon, Beauvais, the list is endless. And that was just our first six months."

"For a Slayer with no prior training other then look marriageable Victoria handled herself with valour. She may not be trained beforehand, she got a lifetime's worth of training out in the field. She has to be one of the most gifted Slayers in history. At least as far as I'm concerned. And while she remains to be headstrong and persists in wearing those stupid corsets, when on the job she is all business. Which is just as well because when she's not on the job she's driving me mad."

"And yet, I fear for that inevitable day when she will strive too far, meet a demon too powerful or a master vampire too crafty to kill. I now fully understand why no Watcher who has ever commanded a Slayer seeks to get assigned to a new one. Why they teach us Watchers to be detached from our charges and view her only as tools to be used. To do otherwise is too emotionally damaging once she inevitably dies. And yet I cannot do so. No matter how much I try to remain detached I cannot remain so. Whenever she comes to me for comfort, whenever she misses her family, whenever she gets confronted with the fact that she will never be able to love someone, I can never push her away and just tell her to focus on her training."

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"It has been a year and a half since Victoria got called and I think in that time we have seen about every town and city in France, killing vampires and demons by the score. The French department head of the Council is most pleased with us, so it came as no surprise that when the Council itself ordered that Victoria be transferred to Germany he was royally pissed. But there is no arguing the orders from the Council so we saddled up and went to Germany."

"The German states are even worse off then France in regards to the occult infestation. Especially the states that were hit worst during the recent war are rife with the creatures. Hanover, Saxony, East-Prussia, Silesia, Bohemia all suffered greatly in the war and they have the greatest manifestations of these creatures. For more then a year we travelled from one country to another and killed vampires and demons on a nightly basis. Frankly, after a while even I lost count and just submitted 'lots' in my reports to the local Council department heads."

"The move to Germany has been hard for Victoria, who already suffered much from home sickness while in France, but suffers even more so when in these strange German lands. It has caused her to come even more to me for emotional support. Lord give me strength to be the best Watcher I can be to her under these stressful conditions!"

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"We are nearing a fateful date."

"It is less then a month until Victoria reaches her 18th birthday. And like any Watcher I know I dread what that means. The Cruciamentum is upon her. I have already received orders to take her to Hanover where she will receive the much feared test. I have already received several doses of the much feared drug to administer to her. Lord give me strength! How can I even do such a thing? To her! My beloved Victoria!"

"I cannot remember when it happened but these past months we finally transcended the last boundaries between Watcher and Slayer. We became lovers. Two lost souls coming together out here far away from home. I realize it's a severe breach of my professional oath, both as a Watcher and as a soldier. But I cannot deny my heart any longer and neither can Victoria. We love each other and it's our love for each other which in my opinion makes us such a formidable team fighting the forces of the underworld."

"But now I am forced to chose between my duty and my love. Do I have the strength and conviction to see this through and hope that Victoria has the willpower and resourcefulness to survive the Cruciamentum? My mind says she does, but my heart fears she won't. Either way I have to make a choice. Do as the Council says and let her undergo the test. And hope that if she survives we will be free to carry on as we did before. Or defy the Council and have the wrath of the Council come down on us. Neither way holds much attraction to me."

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"There is less then one week to go before the Cruciamentum. We are near Hanover now and I can no longer dally my decision. If the drug is to take effect I must start administering it to her now. My heart is torn! Lord give me strength!"

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"I had made up my mind and was about to administer the Cruciamentum drug to Victoria when I changed my mind and told her everything. My confession shocked the poor girl. While we were often out on our own in the field without much support from the Council, she still had some respect for this organization. After all, it can be hard out there and sometimes one must act fast and loose, not wait weeks for approval from some far away Council department head. The Council also understands this so it works both ways. But the very idea that the Council would subject the very people it is supposed to support to such a cruel and unnecessary test was enough to shatter any remaining loyalty Victoria might still have for it."

"Now that I confided in her I fully expected her to refuse to undergo the Cruciamentum. But instead she volunteered to do so. In that sense the girl is much smarter then I am. She instantly realized that the Council would come after us if we were to run away. The question however becomes, can I still go ahead with this? Can I live with the very substantial risk that she might not survive the test? I know this though, if we were to disappear the Council will come after us and we might not survive. But on average only one in three girls that do undergo the Cruciamentum survive this brutal test. Can I live with that one in three chance?"

x

* * *

x

Council report 1767AD.4.12, the right honorable Klaus Fuchs, Hanover station.

"It is with great sadness and regret that I have to announce that Watcher Marcus of Fletcham and his Slayer, Victoria de Besançon, have both failed to appear at the due date of said Slayer's Cruciamentum test on April the 8th. I gave them two days leeway in case of delays along the way but at the same time alerted my agents to be on the lookout in case they tried to get away or that they encountered an occult emergency along the way."

"No such instances were reported and my agents did report that both Marcus and Victoria were last seen on April the 4th in Bad Sachsa near the Thüringen border. In the absence of any explanation in regards to their sudden disappearance I am forced to concluded that Watcher Marcus has reneged on his duties and is now on the run from the Council. I hereby alert all bureau chiefs to be on the lookout for them and to terminate the rogue Watcher and Slayer on sight."

"Signed, April 12th, year of our lord Jesus Christ 1767, the right honorable Klaus Fuchs, Hanover bureau chief."

x

* * *

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"I could not go through with the plan. Each time I administered the Cruciamentum drug to Victoria I saw her get weaker and weaker, way faster then should have been the case and I now greatly feared for her life if she were to undergo the test. And then I learned the truth of her condition and that settled it. I'd now rather die then let her take that cruel and outdated test. "

"We are now on the run. And I must plan our actions accordingly. First we must seek shelter. The Council has agents everywhere. They know of my past and that I served with the British army in Hanover and that I have many friends in the Hanoverian and British armies. They will expect me to come visit my old friends and seek their help. With such a gargantuan organization out to get us I cannot afford to be predictable. I therefore must never seek my friends' aid and instead seek the aid of new friends. An old saying goes that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I must now seek out the aid of those we once fought. That will not be easy. There is also another old saying that as a former military man I hold dear, the best defence is a good offense. If we will never be safe as long as the Council exists in its present form then maybe we should bring down the Council."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 241

x

"This is all fine and dandy," Xander said as he interrupted Belmovekk's story, "But you told me that story already around Buffy's 18th birthday. I thought you were going to tell me about my Saiyan genes."

"You're such an imbecile," Faith said derisive, "He just told you."

"No he didn't," Xander bit back, "He just told me a story he'd already told me before."

"And that's why you're an imbecile," Faith sniggered.

"I don't get it," Xander said as he looked around the room.

"For god sakes, Xander, do we need to spell it out?" Giles said as he reached for his polishing cloth, "The reason Marcus ran off with Victoria was because she was pregnant."

Xander didn't respond for a while as his brain digested the information. Then his jaw slowly opened with no end in sight to the downwards motion.

"Houston, we have lift off," Faith sniggered.

x

* * *

x

Venice, Italy, 1768

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"As she nears the end of pregnancy Victoria experiences more and more strange dreams. Each morning as she wakes up and the dreams are still vivid she tells me of them. Strange dreams of worlds not our own, a vast green planet bathed in the light of an orange sun. Of strange people with apelike tails. Of people who sail across the heavens in strange metal ships. And of a monstrous golden ape devouring and ripping apart demons so huge and powerful not even a Slayer could hope to defeat them."

"At first I wasn't worried much. Slayers are said to have prophetic dreams of the evils that they are supposed to fight. But we are no longer fighting evil. At least not in the sense of that the Council used to define it. I can write whole volumes of our adventures these past nine months, but those are tales for other days. Suffice to say that when you are in the abode of the biggest master vampire in the city of Venice prophetic Slayer dreams should not come as a surprise. I'm amazed that Victoria's Slayer instincts haven't made her drive a stake through our host's undead heart."

"As time went on however, and she began to describe more and more details I began to note them down. And I began to draw sketches of what she was seeing in her dreams. I used to do this a lot in the army, taking descriptions of army scouts and turn them into maps or depictions of what we could expect ahead. I must be good at it because when I showed them to Victoria she looked like she had seen a ghost."

"To be frank, they make me look pale as well. The images are very….. alien? Strange beasts, strange vistas. Strange everything really. It is like being granted a view into different worlds. Maybe even hell itself."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 241

x

"These are some of the drawings that Marcus made," Belmovekk said as he handed out some old drawings.

"Ozaru much?" Buffy said as she saw a drawing of a giant Ozaru crushing a demon underfoot.

"More like our great-great-great-grandmother," Faith said, then she held up a drawing of a girl being strapped on a table while men in white robes were doing stuff to her, "Ugh, Initiative flashback here."

"I feel like I know this place," Giles said as he looked at a drawing of a crashed spaceship on a mountain plateau.

"It is the sacred plateau of Azarg-Marg on mount Selyesna, back on planet Vegeta," Belmovekk said and pointed to the spaceship, "Think away the spaceship and instead imagine a temple standing there."

Giles took another look at the drawing, then his eyes grew big.

"Oh dear," he muttered uncomfortably.

"So that fruity French Slayer had some weird dreams," Xander said dismissively as he put down his drawing, "I still don't see what this has got to do with me."

"And…, straight back into denial," Willow said pouting, "Poor Xander."

"The denial is strong in this one," Faith said as she patted Xander on the shoulder.

"Where did you get these?" Giles said as he examined another drawing, "The Council never was able to retrieve anything from Marcus other then what he was wearing when he got caught. As far as the Council was able to find out Marcus destroyed everything before his last desperate act."

"The Council is not the only global institution going back millennia on this planet, Master Giles," Belmovekk said and held up a file cover with a logo that said 'Wolfram & Hart', "Like Marcus said, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Oh, and before I forget, Xander, Lilah says hi."

"Bitch!" Xander scoffed.

"So the rumors of Marcus being involved with Wolfram & Hart were true," Giles said softly.

"Indeed," Belmovekk continued, "but in this case not directly. Marcus handed his personal diaries and records off to a friend, a fellow disgruntled Watcher who helped him plan the assault on the Council, that friend would later find himself destitute and pawned these records off to Wolfram & Hart."

"You must have paid a fortune for them," Giles said as he looked at another drawing, "Or considering it is Wolfram & Hart sold your soul to them."

"Surprisingly enough they were quite cheap," Belmovekk replied as he scratched his hair, "It has been more then two centuries ago. Whatever information Marcus had is no longer relevant. Not even the Council itself seems that much more interested in retrieving them. The only reason Wolfram & Hart kept them in the dark was, well, to piss them off it would seem. For me I only had to perform a few minor tasks to get them."

"I don't like the way you say minor," Faith said, "It makes it sound….., ominous? What did you do?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," Belmovekk said dismissively, "Anyway, back to the story…."

x

* * *

x

Venice, Italy, 1768

x

From the diary of the right honorable Marcus of Fletcham.

"Victoria gave birth today to a healthy baby son. To bad the attending midwife was a vampire but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Neither can I complain much about the small mob of vampires watching as our son was born. It is not every day that a Slayer gives birth, much less in the company of vampires. Oddly enough rather then wanting to devour our infant these monsters all wanted to hold and cradle him like any other human. It would seem that despite having become demons there is still some parental instincts in them left. I wonder if this is because they cannot have any natural offspring themselves."

"Never in recorded history has there been a case of a Slayer who gave birth. At least that I know off. It is official Council policy that were such a thing to happen that the child must be killed immediately, even if it is still inside the mother. For the resulting child would be an abomination. It doesn't even say what the exact abomination would be, just that it is. Which made me all the more curious to see what our child would look like."

"In the end surprisingly normal and human as it turned out. I counted five fingers and toes on each hand and foot. Considering the taboo the Council places on Slayers giving birth I had expected at least horns, cloved feet and a very nasty tail. Well, that last part seems to have been true. As I turned my son around I noticed a small, almost tail like protrusion above the anus."

"That aside our son seems completely normal. A fine heir to the Fletchham name. Under normal circumstances that is."

"Unfortunately we do not have the luxury of normal circumstances. We are on the run. We cannot afford to keep our son. With great sadness I therefore must seek accommodations for him elsewhere. Victoria is heartbroken over this but she understands. We can never be a family as long as the Council is after us. Therefore we can never be a family until the Council is no more."

x

* * *

x

A-Day minus 241

x

"How come I didn't know about this 'enforced right to chose'?" Buffy asked Giles, "You never told me about this."

"I…, um..," Giles stammered uncomfortably and without thinking his hands reached for his cleaning cloth again.

"Now you've done it, B.," Faith sniggered, "He's British, you do know they don't do sex very well, right?"

"That didn't stop him from making constant remarks about my sex life," Buffy countered, causing more strangling noises to come from Giles.

"He probably figured there was no need for a pregnancy test," Faith grinned, "You dating only men who lacked a heartbeat in all."

"If anyone should have gotten the speech it should be you," Buffy bit back, "The bars back in Sunnydale still lament you being away and all."

"Oh, but I _did_ get the speech," Faith said deadpan, "My Watcher told me to not get pregnant. Like in ever! She even bought me birth control."

Before Buffy could say something to Giles, the former Watcher held up his hand.

"Please, Buffy, for all that's holy, please don't go there," he said uncomfortably.

"Fine," Buffy shrugged, then she looked at Belmovekk, "What's the big deal with this pregnant thing anyway?"

"Oh nothing much," the Saiyan said and picked up another piece of paper, "Only that the child of a Slayer is rumored to have powers comparable to a Slayer."

"What? A male Slayer?" Buffy exclaimed.

"No," Belmovekk said shaking his head, "I am not sure. I even asked Oma Desala about it and she could not tell me. Either the child has Slayer like powers, or…., it has Saiyan like powers, the ones on which the Slayer is based. And that the barriers that have been placed on the Slayer do not apply to the child."

"Which would mean the Council would have no way to control it or even know what to expect," Giles said, then he looked aside and mused, "No wonder the very idea fills them with dread."

Meanwhile Willow put her hand on Xander's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked concerned.

"Why shouldn't I be," Xander shrugged like everything was alright, "As it turns out I'm an even bigger freak then I thought I was. A bloody freak!"

"You're not a freak, Xander," Willow said as she squeezed his shoulder, then she looked at Belmovekk, "Tell him he's not a freak!"

"Is it even certain that Xander's a descendant from Marcus and Victoria?" Giles asked, "I mean, do those files even mention that?"

"Not as such," Belmovekk said as he put down the file, "Marcus wrote down lots of things regarding him and Victoria, and his plans to assault the Watcher's Council. But not where he hid their child."

"See!" Willow said encouragingly, "You're not a freak. You're just a non-freak with freakish strength and freakish Saiyan DNA and stuff."

"Now I feel so much more better," Xander said sarcastically.

"However….," Belmovekk said ominously as he reached for a different piece of paper, "Xander's family tree does go back to a certain family from Quebec called the Lavalieres. Who emigrated to Canada from France right around that time. Jean de Lavaliere was a former French army artillery officer serving in the army of the Duc de Richelieu, occupying the Electorate of Hanover. Marcus served in the opposing army of Ferdinand of Brunswick and when it captured the port of Emden, Jean got captured by forces led by Marcus."

"Despite being from opposing armies a friendship seems to have been struck and when Jean de Lavaliere and his wife boarded for Canada they had with them a baby boy. Since Marcus knew that the Council would check his old Hanoverian and British army buddies he probably thought it prudent to hide him with a friend from the opposing camp."

"That's not much of a proof," Giles interjected, "For all we know this child was their son, not Marcus'."

"Let the record show that in 1773 the Lavalieres went to the registry office in Montreal to adopt a now five year old boy called Eric, as their son. And this Eric de Lavalieres just happens the furthest I could trace back in Xander's family tree. Let the record also show that Eric would later work as a lumberjack and was known for his, and I quote, freakish above human strength. Who upon his death at age 77 still looked like he was in his forties. Do I need to go on?"

There was no reply as everybody looked at each other not sure to say.

"I guess that proves it once and for all," Xander sighed, "I'm a freak."

"But you're our freak," Willow quickly said and put her head on his shoulder, "our special Xander shaped freak."

"Thanks Will," Xander said and patted Willow on the hair, "I guess I should be grateful. At least now I know the truth. Warts and all."

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, the now

x

"Don't die, father," Buffy said as she desperately tried to do what Mayan had done before, infuse raw chi into Belmovekk's body to get his heart starting again, "Please don't die! You promised. You promised that you would never leave me!"

x

* * *

x

A-Day+15, Room of Spirit and Time, day 239.

x

Gathering in her energy Mayan concentrated very hard. Was this the day that it was going to work?

Imagining Cell to stand in the distance Mayan began to grunt.

"You're going down, my mottled friend," she said with grim determination, then she shouted, "HAIL OF FIRE!"

THOOM!

Firing off a massive blast of a reddish pink hue Mayan shot her energy attack towards her imagined foe. Then, right before it should have hit home it veered upwards and split into dozens of tiny beams that shot into every directions. As she poured more energy into the attack Mayan began to sweat heavily, then she yelled as she tried to maintain control of her attack.

"Do it!" she grunted through gritted teeth, "Do it!"

As the energy dispersed into every direction the beams suddenly began to curve back, then like a hail of rain it converged back on the intended target and hit at the same moment and time.

DOOM!

"Yes!" Mayan shouted exultant as she did a little happy dance, then she turned around and extended her fist towards the little child that stood behind, "Come on, punch!"

Little Mayan extended her fist in response and gently the two Mayans bro-fisted.

"What do we say?" Mayan said to her past self.

"Mayo power!" little Mayan smiled proudly.

"Mayo power indeed!" Mayan said as she picked her past self up and began to swing her around. Which was much to the little child's delight.

"Do it again!" little Mayan said eagerly, "Make it go boom again!"

"Ooh, you like that, don't you?" Mayan smiled, "You're like me, huh? You like things that go boom, don't you?"

The child nodded eagerly.

"Alright," Mayan said as she put little Mayan on her left arm and aimed her right hand towards the horizon, "Let's go boom, shall we?"

"Boom boom!" little Mayan said excited. Then Mayan fired off a series of chi blasts that disappeared into the distance.

"Wait for it," Mayan said as the toddler seemed disappointed that there was no big boom. Then 12 flashes appeared on the horizon and seconds later came the noise of 12 explosions happening in series.

"Mayo power!" little Mayan clapped happily.

"Punch," Mayan said as she held out her fist towards little Mayan and the toddler tapped her fist with hers again.

"This has got to be the most twisted scene I've ever seen," a voice said behind them, "Not only are you turning the power of the Super Saiyan into something from the Teletubbies, playing with your past self has just got to violate at least dozens of tempory objectives. I'm surprised that Jean Claude van Damme hasn't burst into this place to stop it."

"Hi, sis," Mayan said as she slowly turned around and faced Buffy floating a few feet above the ground behind her.

There had been times, when the sight of her sister had made her sick to her stomach. And it wasn't that she didn't understood that the Buffy from this time, or this universe for that matter, was different from the one back home. And even if she wasn't, this one had done nothing to deserve the scorn that she had been heaping on her.

It was just that seeing her every time hurt so much. Seeing her reminded herself of everything that she had lost. Everything she had suffered. And that hurt. It really hurt. In those first days it had taken her every ounce of self control to not fall apart. And while Mayan was good at many things, dealing with emotional issues of her past just wasn't part of it.

But they say that time heals all wounds and after 239 days of being cooped up together in this place that was a lot of time for time to heal stuff. Just like playing with her past self had become something that was no longer freaking her out, so was seeing her older sister.

"What can I say," Mayan said as she winked at little Mayan, "She just likes being with me. I guess she senses a kindred spirit."

"It's unnatural," Buffy said as she shook her head frowning.

"Everything about us is unnatural," Mayan shrugged, "what's a little bonding between two Mayans compared to that? Punch."

The two Mayans tapped each other's fists again.

"Go bond back at Time Square," Buffy said pointing behind her, "Belmo wants to train me again."

Time Square of course was their reference to the small domed structure full of clocks and hourglasses that they used for sleeping and eating.

"What does he want to do?" Mayan asked.

"Oh the usual bout of 'let's see if we can turn Buffy into Super Buffy," Buffy said without much enthusiasm, "Sometimes it would seem that's all that's on his mind."

"You'd think that if it were possible that by now it should have happened," Mayan said as she put little Mayan on the white surface, "I mean, how many more creative ways can that man think off of trying to make somebody go Super?"

"Exactly!" Buffy echoed, then she looked at her almost three year old little sister walking around in almost 80 G's worth of gravity like it meant nothing to her. And then it really hit her.

 _She's going to be a Super Saiyan long before I do._

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, the now

x

Despite her best efforts to revive him, Belmovekk would not come back to life, no matter how much chi Buffy pumped into him.

Of course the gaping whole in his chest might have something to do with that.

x

* * *

x

A-Day+16, Room of Spirit and Time, day 663.

x

As he watched Buffy and Xander spar Belmovekk sat down on his hunches on the floor of the Room of Spirit and Time. And he was not feeling good.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

In two months time their time in the Room of Spirit and Time was going to be over and he had nothing to show for it.

He had failed to make her go Super. Despite everything he had tried nothing seemed able to make that barrier that those accursed Ancients had placed in her disappear. They must really have feared letting another Super Saiyan go and walk this Earth again. And yet there had to be something. What if the dimensional portals re-opened again and real demons, true demons emerged again? The old style Slayers would stand no chance against those. Surely they must have placed a back door, something that would allow her to release her true powers. Otherwise, what would be the point?

His own training had come to a dead stop as well. As did Xander's. Well, the last was to be expected. While he had nothing but respect and admiration for Xander, there was no denying the fact that whatever allowed him to go Super was tenuous at best. He just lacked the genes to really take advantage of what would have been possible for him. Maybe if he had been born several generations earlier his abilities would have been stronger. He might even have been able to give Vegeta or Trunks a good run for their money. But he wasn't, so he was just the best he could be under the present circumstances. To his credit he seemed totally comfortable with that.

If only he could bring out the Super Slayer that lurked inside Buffy….

For himself he had no excuses. While he knew that he knew a lot of tricks, he also knew that his own potential for growth was limited. He just wasn't as good as his fellow Saiyans and his initial superiority stemmed from a millennia long head start, not innate ability like Goku seemed to have. In the three years since he arrived on this planet his own abilities had grown. But never by as much as Goku and the others.

His father knew about this. It was a problem that ran in the family. That was why both his father and later he himself had pushed him to become so adapt at all the martial arts. Or as his father used to say, if you cannot impress them with strength, show them skill instead. It had netted him quite a promising career in the Royal Household. After all, somebody had to train all the royal and Elite brats and beat it into their thick pampered skulls that there was more to fighting then just brute strength.

"Why are you so obsessed with turning her into you?" a voice asked curiously, a voice laden with harmonic overtones. Then Amūn walked into view and then sat down next to him.

"Why can't you just let her be herself?" the Goa'uld specter asked.

"Because I do not like having to depend on Goku's plan alone," Belmovekk replied sullen, "It makes for bad strategic planning not to have at least some sort of backup plan."

"You have fought plenty of times without a backup plan before," Amūn countered, "Against the Majin for instance. In fact you didn't even had a plan other then finding that thing. Nor did you have one when you took on the Mayor. It was all one giant hail Mary exercise."

"That was different," Belmovekk shrugged, "the future of the Earth is now at stake."

"Like the battle of Sunnydale and the Majin were such picnics," Amūn said back, "You nearly got us both killed. Again, why this obsession with her? Why not strive for some power of your own? If you at least had strength equal if not more then Goku, who knows what the two of you might accomplish together."

"My power is just not sufficient," Belmovekk said again sullen, "Maybe if I had a decade or two in this place, who knows, but two years? I am just not like Goku and Vegeta. I cannot advance as fast as they can."

"You sure as hell won't advance if you're as morose as this," Amūn snorted, then he nodded towards Buffy, "Again, why her? Usually you do everything you can to keep her out of harms way. It's not like you to suddenly push her to the forefront. And even if by some fluke you do manage to make her go Super, what's it going to accomplish? Super Saiyan is no longer cutting it. You need that Super Saiyan beyond a Super Saiyan to do that trick."

"Do you think I like doing this?" Belmovekk said indignant, "Do you think I like putting her life in danger? Fuck you, worm!"

x

* * *

x

Further away Buffy and Xander stopped sparring as they suddenly looked at Belmovekk who had started to yell.

"What the hell?" Xander said surprised, "Did I just hear the Big Guy drop an F-bomb?"

"He's talking to the Goold again," Buffy said.

"Sounds like a huge family feud," Xander said.

"This is not good," Buffy said worried, "He's not talked to that thing since we came here. And that Goold only comes when there's trouble."

"Then I guess there's trouble abrewin'," Xander grinned and rammed his fist into her face, " _My_ kind of trouble."

Buffy rubbed her face, then she looked at Xander with eyes that spelled bloody murder.

"Oh, you're _so_ going to get it!"

x

* * *

x

"I hate that I have to put her at risk," Belmovekk said after his anger had subsided and he sat down again, "But I have no choice. And neither does Goku. He is not a fool. At least not of the kind we all think he is. If he could defeat Cell himself he would have done so already. If he banks his son's life on it he does so because he has no other choice."

For a moment both Saiyan and Goa'uld said nothing, as they resumed watching Buffy and Xander spar again.

"Maybe Goku is right," Belmovekk sighed, "And his son will be able to reach that new level of power and destroy Cell. But what if he is not? You are right that we have often fought without a backup plan. But we were forced to under duress to make things up as we went along. This is different. Each of us has been given two years in this place to come with something that will defeat Cell. With that kind of lead up it would be foolish not to come up with some sort of backup plan."

"You do realize that her merely becoming a member of the Super Saiyan community, despite the many fringe benefits, will not win you the day, right?" Amūn said as he reached out and put his hand on Belmovekk's shoulder, "Like you said, if Goku could defeat Cell, he would. Super Saiyan is not going to win the day."

"What about him?" Belmovekk said as he pointed towards Xander, "From the moment I met him he has continued to amaze me with his ability to keep up. Sure he has some Saiyan-like genes in his origin, but they are watered down, both by time and circumstances. And yet he has managed to become a Super Saiyan!"

"In no small part helped by you placing him at the heart of a chaos spell," Amūn snorted derisively.

"We do not know that," Belmovekk said, "Maybe it was fated. And if that was fated, what else is fated?"

"You're clutching at straws here," Amūn said as he shook his head, "This is not like you."

"I have been in the hands of fate for most of my life," Belmovekk shrugged, "It is my business to know fate. And my gut tells me, has been telling me since I first met her, that she is fated for great things. If that kid can become a Super Saiyan despite his tenuous link, what power could there be in her? She could be off the scale!"

"You keep dreaming that, Saiyan," Amūn said disbelieving, "In two months time it won't matter any more. Then your 'vacation' in this place will be over and you'll be out in the real world again. You've tried everything but throwing the kitchen sink at her. It's not going to happen."

"But it worked with Xander," Belmovekk argued.

"He's a man and only tenuously related to the Slayer," Amūn said as he stood up, "Whatever he is, the normal bounds that shackle the Slayer do not apply to him. Face it, Saiyan, your meditations and techniques are not going to cut it. Maybe if you bring out the doomsday weapon, take one for the team and die it might work. But I forgot, you did that already."

And then he was gone, leaving Belmovekk to himself as he pondered the Goa'uld's words.

 _Take one for the team._

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, just moments before

x

"No, it is not possible," Belmovekk said horrified as he recognized the emanations of chi that were coming from the strange cloud that was before them..

"T-that chi," Vegeta said shocked.

"Oh no," Piccolo said as he recoiled.

"You guys have way too much fun at our expense," Xander said as he looked upwards and rolled his eyes.

Then an arm appeared from the cloud, followed by another, then two index fingers extended themselves. One aimed at Mayan, the other at Buffy.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum," a smug voice singsang, "Which of his two daughters shall the Saiyan save this time?"

Then two Lancing Attacks were fired. One each for both Mayan and Buffy.

Around Belmovekk time suddenly felt like it was slowing down, almost coming to a stop.

 _What am I supposed to do? I cannot save them both,_ Belmovekk thought horrified, _I must chose between my daughter, and the girl that I love like my own daughter. How can I make such a choice? Aldur, give me stre….., no, Priya, Goddess of War, hear my prayer! I know that I have not prayed to you in a long while. I also know that you do not care about worship. That you only demand that we worship ourselves. But I come to you with an impossible dilemma. What am I supposed to do? I know that our world is gone. And with it maybe you yourself. But if you can still hear me, Goddess, grant me the insight to do what is right._

As the two lancing attacks inched forward towards Buffy and Mayan there was no reply. There never really was. Such was the way with Gods, only helping those who helped themselves.

Then it hit him.

 _Take one for the team._

And he knew what to do. Cause when the chips were down there really was no choice. Only one recourse left.

Forgive me, Mayan, my dearest daughter, may Priya have mercy on both our souls.

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, the now

x

"No, Belmo, don't die," Buffy wailed in despair, "You promised. You'd never leave me. Not like….. FATHER!"

Looking up with eyes that shone in cold blue green Buffy yelled up towards the heavens.

x

* * *

On a hilltop not far from where Bruce Schnitzengruber and the FOX NEWS team were watching on in horror an old woman stood and watched as well.

"Yes," she said approvingly, "Let it go, Slayer, let it go. Let it go and let the heavens tremble and the earth shake! _They_ took away my children, now let _Them_ feel my wrath."

She had heard Belmovekk's prayer. And although he now belonged to someone else, she still listened to one of her own. She knew that if Belmovekk saved Mayan Buffy would die and nothing would come of it. Neither of them had the potential to fight Cell. But if he died saving the Slayer, it might serve as the last straw to break the shackles that the Others had placed on her. He knew it himself. It was why he had tried to get himself killed by Cell before. He didn't need much encouragement.

The bonds that the Others had placed on the Slayer were strong. Very strong. But so was the connection between the Slayer and the Saiyan. Incredibly so. A bond carefully crafted by the Destinies. Maybe even for this very purpose. His sacrifice might serve to finally break those shackles.

And it did.

Never let it be said that Priya Anhali, Saiyan Goddess of war, did not look out after her children.

Wherever they were.


	38. Chapter Twenty Three

**Chapter 23**

' **Reckoner'**

x

x

AN: _You are all hereby ordered to put on Bruce Faulconer's 'The Dragon Theme' as you read this and to constantly repeat it until you reach the end of this chapter! Alternate for your sanity using Ennio Morricone's 'The Trio'. Failure to comply will be punished severely by my plot Saiyan._

 _watch?v=QgJ1heSrskY_

 _/XP9cfQx2OZY?t=2m39s_

AN 2017: _Top link still works, bottom link has died and replaced. On the off chance that both links die, here's some searches:_

 _Bruce Faulconer's Dragon Theme:_

 _results?search_query=Bruce+Faulconer%E2%80%99s+The+Dragon+Theme_

 _Ennio Morricone's 'The Trio'_

 _results?search_query=the+good+the+bad+and+the+ugly+the+trio_

 _For those on , I'm sorry but it doesn't seem to allow for off site links. If it can, please tell me and I'll fix it. Just search on youtube for those titles._

x

* * *

x

As the dust got blown away Cell was revealed in all his naked glory. And to make matters worse he looked better then ever before. He was in his perfect form again. As arcs of electricity sparked around him the creature began to smirk again.

"So, he chose to save the Slayer instead," Cell smirked as he saw the bodies of Trunks, Mayan and Belmovekk lying on the ground, "I guess that showed his real daughter what her place was in the grand scheme of things. Lucky Slayer though. She doesn't seem very pleased though, in fact she seems kinda broken."

He was alluding of course to Buffy whimpering over Belmovekk's lifeless body.

"Why is he still alive?" Yamcha said horrified as he slowly took a few steps backwards.

"Because the universe has a perverse sense of humor?" Xander said.

x

x

In a bar in Sunnydale everybody looked glued to the big television screen. For a while there had been only sound but then the camera feed returned. While it was grainy, and occasionally froze, what it did show made the whole bar remain silent.

"This is bad," Larry said softly, "this is very bad. He looks even bigger and meaner then before."

Not even Spike had a snappy remark at the ready. Oh, he had loved it when the Big Scary had gone down. But unfortunately he could also detect life signatures. And Cell's was off the charts. It had been off the charts before, but now it had entered 'And here be dragons' territory.

"I wonder if I can make it too that hole in space underneath the mountain in time," he said softly.

x

* * *

x

"He was dead. He was supposed to be dead," O'Neill said back at the SGC.

"Then I guess he wasn't really dead," Daniel shrugged like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I guess you're the expert," O'Neill said looking at Daniel, then back at the big screen, "This Cell comes back from the dead more often then Apophis did. I swear, Daniel, if Apophis would now materialize next to Cell as his sidekick I wouldn't even blink an eye."

x

* * *

x

"He he he," Cell chuckled softly as he saw the shock and surprise on everyone's faces, "Surprised? Well so was I. Quite a stroke of luck on my part actually."

Cell pointed to his head.

"There's this small cluster of Cells in my head," Cell said as he tapped his skull, "It makes up my core. If that cluster isn't destroyed my body can go on regenerating even if only microscopic pieces remain. And when I self destructed my core was unharmed."

x

* * *

x

Moments before, in the afterlife.

x

"I'm sorry, Kaio Sama," Goku said apologetic after he materialized without warning on Kaio Sama's little planetoid in the afterlife, "This was the only place I could think off."

Before Kaio Sama could respond Cell blew up and tore apart the little planetoid.

DOOM!

A massive shockwave went through the afterlife, causing the insanely long Snake Way to ripple and be obliterated for the length of a thousand miles near the blast. Then, as the shockwaves began to abate three souls materialized in their bodies over the still intact portions of Snake Way further away.

But at the centre of Kaio Sama's former little planetoid all sorts of dust and debris still swirled around. Including organic material.

Including _live_ organic material.

Amidst the debris a small clump of cells still clung desperately to life as it pulsed irregularly.

For a moment the small clump pulsed, then it stopped pulsing.

"Oh no you don't," a voice said, then a small arc of electricity hit the clump and it began to spasm again. Irregular at first, then at a steady pace for what seemed like a minute, then the pace increased.

As soon as it did it also began to increase in size with every spasm, doubling in size as cells began to divide, and divide, and divide again, until an embryonic life form began to emerge. One that rapidly began to grow and become more and more recognizable.

And then, finally, it stopped changing and Cell was once whole again.

Panting heavily Cell hung there above the yellow clouds of the afterlife. While he had no clue as to where he really was, he did know what had happened to him and that he was really, really, lucky.

Not only had he survived his own self-destruction, to his amazement he was back in his perfect form again, despite having lost Android #18. He could hardly believe his good fortune. Pumping the air in victory Cell laughed out loud.

And the laughter died suddenly.

Not far from him a small piece of Snake Way still floated above the clouds. Nothing much, less then a square meter. But it was enough for someone to sit on. And somebody did.

It was the demon called Skip.

"Flexing your new body I see?" Skip said cheerful, then he bowed his head, "You're welcome."

"What do you mean by that?" Cell said annoyed.

"You were spared, my friend," Skip said, "The Powers saved your miserable existence, well, _I_ saved your miserable existence. But since I work for _Them_ that means they can claim the credit. Not really fair I admit, but that's the way the system works, baby. I jumpstarted you again. I also gave you a few extras too. Like your perfect form. Also courtesy of the Powers."

"You're lying," Cell said quickly, to which Skip shrugged.

"Search your feelings, Cell, you know it to be true," he replied back.

For a moment Cell said nothing.

"What do you want?" he finally said.

"The Powers love you, Cell," Skip said as he got up to his feet, causing the piece of Snake Way to wobble, "You're their darling. They want you to win. They want you to destroy that miserable rock. They want you to kill that miserable Saiyan and his pet Slayer. And the others too for good measure if it makes you happy. We don't care. Just blow up Earth."

"What makes you think I will do what you and your so-called Powers want me to do?" Cell said defiantly, then he aimed his hand at Skip, "I could kill you now before you could even blink an eye."

"You could," Skip said deadpan, "But then you would be trapped in this place, this eternal limbo like forever. What would be the fun in that? I'm your ride out of this place, baby."

"You're lying," Cell said, "When Goku used his instant transmission to bring me here I finally understood how it works. I can do it myself now."

If he looked surprised Skip hid it well as he smiled some more, then extended both his arms.

"You still need to find your bearings back home, baby," the demon smiled confidently, "Without something to aim for instant transmission won't get you anywhere. But to prove my good faith, why not use your senses and check in that direction?"

Skip pointed to one direction and Cell looked that way, then extended his senses. At first he could sense nothing. But then…..

Elation!

"Thanks, but no thanks," Cell said and aimed his hand back at the floating piece of Snake Road.

But there was nothing to aim for as the demon was gone.

"Crafty bugger," Cell said both impressed and annoyed that he gotten cheated at his chance of killing him. Then he looked back into the direction that Skip had pointed too and brought two fingers to his forehead. Then he began to smirk.

"Alright, I'll play along for now," Cell smirked, "But once I do I will come after you and your precious Powers. Mark my words, I will not allow anything stronger then me to exist!"

And with that Cell winked out of existence in the Afterlife.

As soon as he did Skip winked back into existence on the floating piece of Snake Way. He hadn't really left at all, just created the illusion that he had.

"They just don't pay me enough for this shit," Skip said as he slowly shook his head, "What an asshole. I hope he does tear the Powers a new one. Well, I did my part, it's time to get out of here."

Using his hand he struck the air and a tear began to form, through which a bright light began to shine. Then he widened the tear so he could fit his body through.

"I hear Jasmine's hiring."

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, the present

x

"I hadn't really counted on regenerating from that amount of damage," Cell explained, "I guess I was…. lucky? Even better, now I'm complete again even though #18 is no longer part of my body, and I've powered up as well, like Son Gohan."

That last remark drew attention to the arcs of electricity surrounding Cell and the yellow flames of chi that surrounded him now.

"I guess it were the Saiyan cells in my genetic make up," Cell said smirking, "A boost in power after a brush up with death."

Then he brought two fingers to his forehead.

"I've even learned to teleport like Son Goku and the other asshole, which means I've come back even more perfect then ever! Son Goku didn't defeat me as he thought, he made me better then ever!"

Then as everybody watched on in horror Gohan raised his own power again, arcs of electricity surrounding him again as well. And with it a smirk appeared on his face.

"Why the smile?" Cell asked contemptuous, "Did you finally go insane?"

"No," Gohan smirked back and held up a fist, "I'm just happy that I get another chance to kill the monster that killed my father. I really wanted to tear you apart with my own bare hands. And now I can."

"Oh really?" Cell snorted incredulously, "Didn't we dance this dance before? I don't think it worked out as well as you hoped the last time, now did it?"

x

* * *

x

Two things were going on as Cell and Gohan exchanged their banter.

Vegeta didn't pay any attention.

All he did was stare at the corpse of his own son.

And all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat, beating like a drum in his ears as nothing in the world seemed to exist any more but him, and the remains of his son.

Trunks was dead!

His son was dead.

He knew he had behaved like an asshole towards the boy. He knew that all that the boy craved for was his approval. To be recognized as his. Not in the formal legal Saiyan way of course. There was never going to be any question of that ever happening. He may have been living on Earth for almost five years, even longer then that away from Planet Vegeta. But he was too steeped in the ancient traditions to change. His son was half-Saiyan and as such could never be legally recognized.

Trunks was dead!

And yet the boy never asked for such a thing. Never asked to be called his heir. All he really wanted was his approval, a pet on the back that said 'well done, son'. And he had never done that.

Trunks was dead!

He had been a right asshole to his own son. And not in the usual 'tough love' approach that many Saiyan parents ascribed too. He had really treated the boy like one would a common servant. And despite that the boy had still shown him deferential.

Trunks was dead!

While his son had shown him respect, he had also shown him he had balls of Saiyan steel when he had stood up to him in the battles leading up to Cell's completion. Shown a willingness to even kill him if necessary. Which was good because standing up to one's elders when they were wrong was just as important as showing respect to them when they were right.

Trunks was dead!

The year he had spent with Trunks inside the Room of Spirit and Time had been quite…, for lack of a better word, enjoyable? At the time it didn't seem like it, more like the opposite in fact. But the year he would later spent in that godawful place alone showed him that without Trunks it was even worse. That he missed having someone around. Even if that certain someone just didn't know when to shut up.

Trunks was dead.

And not only did he let it happen, because of his damned pride, he never even got the chance to tell the boy that he was, there was no denying it any more, his son.

"Tru…., Trunks," Vegeta stammered as it dawned upon him that his son was dead.

His son.

"DAMN YOU CELL!"

x

* * *

x

Not that far away something snapped in somebody else as well.

Barriers that had been in place for millennia, just to prevent this very moment from happening, and already weakened by the constant rise of her power these past five years, suddenly gave way as immense grief took hold of Buffy.

Belmo was dead.

"No, Belmo, don't die," Buffy wailed in despair over Belmovekk's corpse, "You promised. You'd never leave me. Not like….. FATHER!"

Looking up with eyes that shone in cold blue green Buffy yelled up towards the heavens and let her grief flow through her like a raging torrent.

One that finally broke through the barriers set in place by those Ancient scientists and practitioners of magic.

For the first time ever a human born Slayer, heiress to the power of the Legendary First Super Saiyan, reached her full potential.

And her power exploded in an orgy of golden chi.

x

* * *

x

Furthest away, standing with the soldiers, Willow looked aghast at her friend as she transformed and gales of raw energy lambasted her and the soldiers.

"Buffy?"

x

* * *

x

The two Super Saiyans, one born on Planet Vegeta, and ultimate heir of a bloodline going back thousands of years to an Ancient scientist and a Saiyan warrior, the other the end result of a Saiyan warrior taken from her planet by another Ancient scientist and created as a weapon for their purposes, looked at each other.

Without saying a word, or even using any form of telepathy Vegeta and Buffy looked at each other and each understood what the other was going through.

"Let's do this, Summers," Vegeta said.

And with that, the two of them launched themselves at Cell.

x

* * *

x

"She too?" O'Neill said as he saw the duo assault Cell on the big screen, "It's Super Saiyans aplenty."

Meanwhile Joyce and Giles approached the big screen and watched with jaws nearly hitting the floor.

"Buffy?"

x

* * *

x

"HYAAAAH!" Vegeta and Buffy yelled as they fired off a twin blast at Cell, who only barely had time to brace himself for impact.

DOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the valley. And as they scurried for cover it reigned pieces of dirt and rocks all around Bruce and the camera crew. Causing a very effeminate shout to come Bruce's mouth.

"YEEK!"

x

* * *

x

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Shouting pure shouts of pure hatred Buffy used her new found power to unleash a barrage of blasts at Cell, firing like two machineguns at a single stationary target shrouded in increasing amounts of dust.

In addition to her hatred she also couldn't help but revel in her new found power. It was the bees knees! Sure, there was pain involved. But nothing she couldn't handle. If this was what Xander was always crying about then he was the world's biggest crybaby.

That or unlike him this was power she was meant to have.

Either way, eat death, Cell!

x

* * *

x

"YEAH, GIVE IT TO HIM!" a demon yelled excited in Larry's bar as they watched Buffy and Vegeta tear into Cell, "RIP THAT SUCKER'S HEAD OFF AND SHIT DOWN ITS NECK!"

As more and more demons began to shout shouts of encouragements to his surprise Spike found himself joining in. It would seem that self-preservation trumped hatred after all.

Even if the dolt had just gone Super Scary as well and probably would become insufferable once this was over.

x

* * *

x

As everybody watched with bated breath as Vegeta and Buffy tore into Cell, Riley turned around and looked at the dead.

"What about them?" he said, "We can't just let them lie here."

"You're right," Yamcha agreed, "We should take their bodies to safety. The Dragon needs bodies to revive them. If we survive this that is."

"Let me take care of this," Willow said and knelt next to Belmovekk's body, then she pointed next to her, "Put them here."

Yamcha and Tien took the bodies of Trunks and Mayan and put them next to Willow.

"What are you going to do?" Tien asked after he put down Mayan's body.

"It's time we had some backup plans of our own," Willow said with grim determination, then she began to concentrate as she began to draw symbols on the ground, "I hope this works, stand back."

At first nothing happened.

But then Willow and the three bodies began to fade. Slowly at first, but then at an increasing speed.

"Are you taking them to the Lookout," Tien asked, but Willow shook her head.

"If this place goes the Lookout's the last place I want them to be," she said. And then she was gone.

x

* * *

x

"DIE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Vegeta snarled with pure hatred as he threw everything he had at Cell, "DIE!"

x

* * *

x

"So this is what a Super Slayer looks like," Faith said as she watched Buffy and Vegeta fire at Cell, then she looked at Xander, "She looks different then you."

She was referring to the pale golden colour of both Buffy's hair and her chi flames, burning as bright as Vegeta's, but not in the same bright golden hue. Similar but not completely like Xander's, which had a more dull, tarnished hue.

"I just hope she's not in any sort of pain," Xander said.

"Stupid idiots," Piccolo growled, "They'll get themselves killed!"

"At least they're doing something," Faith bit back.

"Who cares about something when you're only in the way," Piccolo snorted, "All that work for nothing."

"What work?" Faith asked.

"Belmovekk's," Piccolo said, "It all makes sense now, why he was so desperate to get himself killed. He wanted her to become like this and figured that if he couldn't accomplish it while alive, maybe his death might trigger it. Turns out he was right all along. And now she's just wasting it away."

x

* * *

x

Watching the proceedings on Earth with increasing worry, Thor felt ready to ditch this solar system at any seconds when suddenly something strange happened on his bridge. Out of nowhere four people, no, make that one person and three dead people began to materialize on his bridge in a slow form of teleportation.

Seemingly taking forever Thor watched with interest as he finally began to recognize them. Once it was completed the red haired assistant to the now dead Saiyan Belmovekk stood. And almost keeled over before steadying herself.

"Phew," Willow said tired, "That took more out of me then expected.

"You are Willow Rosenberg, are you not?" Thor asked formally.

"Yes," Willow said, then she walked up to him and put her hands on his console, "You teleported those dead soldiers, right?"

"Yes," Thor nodded, "I was told they might be revived."

"Yeah, about that," Willow said, "I need your help with that. If it looks like Cell's going to win, I want you to teleport these people and get the hell out of here."

She then told Thor whom she wanted to be teleported.

"I cannot teleport some of them," Thor objected, "I cannot get a lock there."

Willow slammed her hands on his console and a brief electrical discharge went through Thor's equipment.

"There, now you can," Willow said resolved.

Thor checked his scanner and to his surprise he suddenly could do as she asked.

"They might not want to come," Thor said, "It might not be ethical to take them against their will."

"Ethical?" Willow said flabbergasted, then her eyes narrowed as she glared at the little Asgard, who involuntarily flinched, "We're not going on some damn cruise! We're playing survival here. And I need those Dragonballs to revive them back. I need Belmo back! And when he does I'm not going to tell him that we left his wife and kids behind!"

Intimidated Thor kept his silence, upon which Willow turned around and steadied herself against Thor's console.

"It's bad enough that we'll probably going to have to leave Buffy behind as is."

x

* * *

x

In the Afterlife Goku was watching through the extra sensory preceptors of Kaio Sama by putting his hands on Kaio Sama's shoulders.

"And she's human?" Kaio Sama said surprised, "Since when can humans go Super Saiyan?"

"Apparently she can," Goku said matter of fact, causing Kaio Sama to glance over his shoulder.

"You really never were much for the why, weren't you?"

"Does it matter right now?" Goku shrugged matter of fact.

"I suppose not," Kaio Sama said as he turned his attention back to the fight, "My, Vegeta has grown a lot as well. They're really letting Cell have it."

"Yeah," Goku concurred, "That would have been some fight between us once this was over."

"Too bad you're dead and he isn't," Kaio Sama chuckled.

"Oh, I think we might still have that fight," Goku said downcast, "And probably sooner rather then later."

x

* * *

x

 _Holy crap!_

That was what went through Bruce's mind as he watched the duo tear into Cell.

 _These guys are so much more stronger then me. What the fuck was I thinking coming here?_

Bruce then looked sideways, to the reporter still speaking excitedly into his microphone and the cameraman still filming the fight with his make shift repaired camera.

 _They're not paying attention to me,_ Bruce thought, _I mustn't draw any attention to me._

For a moment he contemplated running away.

If he ran away unnoticed they might say he was a coward, but if he spinned things right he might still explain it as that he was trying to place himself in a position to deliver the killing blow.

Yeah, he could work with that.

Probably more then he could by just standing here until the inevitable question came when he would finally step in. I mean, how long could he maintain that ridiculous excuse that he was suffering from a stomach ache?

Then, before he could make a move the camera man suddenly stopped filming, put his camera on the ground and opened a panel.

"Camera's dead again," the camera man said in a defeated tone of voice.

"Can you fix it?" the reporter asked concerned, "this is the story of our lifetime."

"Maybe if we were back at the studio," the camera man said shaking his head, "This thing's deader then the Dodo."

"What about the satellite uplink?" the reporter asked worried, "Are we still on live?"

The camera man checked the status of his satellite uplink pack.

"I'm not sure," he finally said, then he looked at the reporter, "it could be."

The reporter looked at the camera man like he wasn't sure what he was hearing. Like he was trying to piece 2 + 2 together. Then he turned around and resumed commenting on the fight like nothing had happened.

"So you're saying that we're completely cut off?" Bruce asked the camera man.

"Could be," the camera man said pointing to the uplink pack, it still draws power but the LED indicating whether or not there's still an uplink is damaged. It cut be on, it could be off. There's no way of knowing if there is."

"But the camera is completely shot," Bruce asked, to which the camera man nodded. Then Bruce turned around and began to smile again.

Finally things seemed to be looking up for him.

x

* * *

x

"MORE, MORE," Buffy panted heavily as she tried to summon more energy to pour in her attacks. Which was kinda hard as she was _so_ not used to being in this state.

"Concentrate your fire, Summers," Vegeta growled at her, "Don't throw them all over the place."

Shooting one more look of annoyance at Vegeta Buffy did as ordered and concentrated her fire at the centre of the cloud which by now had expanded to such lengths that it had almost reached them, causing them to fire almost blindly.

Something told her this might not be good idea.

"Maybe we shou…..," Buffy tried to say, but before she could finish her sentence something emerged from the cloud.

It was Cell.

The thing whizzed right passed her and then lashed out, swinging his open handed hand and smacking Vegeta right in the face, causing the Saiyan prince to fall backwards and then land face first into the ground, where all he could do was pant heavily as he tried to make sense and work through the pain.

x

* * *

x

"Oh no," Kaio Sama said horrified in the Afterlife.

"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Goku said shaking his head, "I knew they couldn't overpower Cell."

"Strange that two strong fighters find it so hard to combine their powers," Kaio Sama remarked.

"It's so damn hard," Goku concurred, then his face contorted, "No, get out of there!"

x

* * *

x

After having disposed of Vegeta Cell came around and swung his leg in a roundhouse kick aimed straight at Buffy's face. Only at the last possible moment was she able to raise her arm and block her attack.

But it still hit her with the power of a runaway freight train.

As her arm felt numb, Cell swung around and tried to drive his fist into her face. Instinctively she crossed her arms in front of her face and found that while numb, her arm still wasn't broken. Then she blocked Cell's attack.

"Impressive," Cell said impressed, "Your newfound power is a credit to you, Slayer. I see now why he was so desperate to bring it out."

Then Cell smirked maliciously in her face.

"Too bad it only puts you slightly above him. Close, but still no cigar."

Then Cell drove his knee into her stomach and knocked the wind right out of her.

x

* * *

x

"I knew it, Goku said gloomily, "If Belmovekk had managed to goad her into this while in the Room of Spirit and Time she might have been trained to handle it. Get even more power out of it. Now she's just not equipped to handle this."

"Makes you wonder why he tried so hard to get it out of her," Kaio Sama concurred.

"He was a driven man," Goku said solemnly, then he looked around, "Say, why's he not here?"

"Maybe because if there's any justice in the universe he's roasting in hell right now?" Kaio Sama said in disgust.

x

* * *

x

As Buffy fell to the ground clutching her stomach Cell walked away as he shook his head disparagingly.

"All too easy," he said contemptuously, then he turned around and pointed one hand at Vegeta, the other at Buffy, "Time to die, insects."

Next thing two massive energy attacks began to glow brightly.

x

* * *

x

By now they had lost the FOX NEWS feed, and even the reporter's voice faded in and out. But unlike the rest of the world the SGC still had access to imagery via the Predator drone flying overhead.

But as they saw Vegeta and Buffy fall down Joyce began to scream.

"BUFFY! NO….!" Joyce cried out as she fell to the floor, with Giles and two soldiers coming to her aid.

"Switch it off!" General Hammond said to a technician, "Switch the big screen off!"

Then he and O'Neill walked to a smaller screen near a work station.

"She already had to watch her husband die, I'll be damned if she has to watch her own daughter die as well."

x

* * *

x

"Teleport her out if there!" Willow yelled on board of the bridge of the Beliskner II, "Please, teleport her out of there!"

"I cannot," Thor said as he feverishly worked his controls, "There is too much interference. Too much energies interfering with my sensors."

x

* * *

x

"DIE!" Cell yelled and fired off two blasts.

THOOM!

Two blasts of energy speed from Cell's hands, one heading for Vegeta, the other heading straight for Buffy.

x

* * *

x

Despite that the big screen had been turned off at the SGC control room, Joyce Summers could still see what was going on several of the smaller screens.

"BUFFY!" she wailed desperately, "Don't leave me! Please, no!"

"Damn you, Cell," General Hammond said as he watched on powerlessly.

x

* * *

x

"Oh my God, viewers, Cell's going to kill them," the voice of the FOX NEWS reporter blared excited through Larry's bar, "Oh my God, the humanity…."

First the Big Scary buys it, now the Slayer, Spike thought, I should feel happy, why don't I feel happy?

 _Because you're going to die as well,_ something said within his mind.

Shut up, brain, I want to enjoy this, no matter if it only lasts for a moment.

 _Suit yourself._

x

* * *

x

"BUFFY!" Willow cried horrified on board the Beliskner II.

x

* * *

x

"BUFFY!" Riley yelled as he tried to come to her aid.

And got tackled by Tien and Yamcha.

"NO!" Riley yelled.

"It's for your own good," Tien said as he clung on to Riley.

x

* * *

x

DOOM!

Two loud explosions happening almost at the same time.

Further destruction to the already heavily damaged Afghan countryside.

Another massive flash that blinded the forward observers that aside from the Predator drone were now the only eyes keeping an eye on things in this bizarre valley.

30 miles away in the command post, a US colonel together with a British second in command were trying to make sense of things. The results of their feeds went directly to the SGC, but it was up to them to keep them running.

With the US troops stretched thin after the disastrous attack on Cell they were fortunate that some of their NATO allies were able to pick up the slack, especially the British who had been deploying to nearby Helmand province. Up to a third of the staff was now British.

"Broadsword calling Danny Boy, Broadsword calling Danny Boy," a radio operator spoke as he tried to contact the forward observers, "report in, Danny Boy, over."

"Anything?" the colonel asked concerned.

"Nothing," the British major said shaking his head, "There's too much dust for the Predator drone to see anything. We need those eyes on the ground."

"Why not call Jamison or Riley?" a British lieutenant asked, "They're right at the thick of it. And they got radios."

The US colonel and the British major looked at each other.

"Simplest solutions," the colonel said shaking his head why he hadn't thought of that, "Do it."

But before his order could be carried out the radio crackled.

"Broadsword, this is Danny Boy, over."

"Danny Boy, do you have visual, over?" the radio operator asked.

"Affirmative, Broadsword," the radio crackled, "Target is still standing, I repeat, the target is still standing?"

"What about Black Prince and Angel One? Are they down? Over."

There was no immediate reply.

"Danny Boy, can you confirm, are Black Prince and Angel One down or not? Over."

"I…., um…., am not…, uh…., sure," the hesitant reply came back.

"Then tell us what you can see, Danny Boy, over."

x

* * *

x

As the dust settled to her surprise Buffy discovered that she was still alive.

Still feeling pain: check.

Numb left arm: check.

Opening eyes and seeing maniacal bio droid: check.

She glanced to her left and saw Vegeta still alive and breathing in the center of his own little crater.

But she also saw Gohan lying on top of him. And he very much looked worse for wear. Bloodied and seemingly exhausted.

And then it clicked in her brain and she looked around.

And saw Xander lying at her feet.

Unconscious.

With a gaping hole in his side.

"Xander, no!" she yelled as she got up on her knees.

x

* * *

x

As he opened his eyes Xander knew that things were wrong when he couldn't feel any pain. Cause there should have been lots of it.

He could see Buffy hover over him, and although he couldn't hear a word of what she was saying due to the excessive ringing in his ears, from the look on her face he could tell that it was bad, really bad. Immediate senzu bean bad. Too bad they were completely out of the little beans.

He tried to move but found his body below the neck completely paralysed. Then he put back his head to the ground and began to chuckle.

"Well, just like back in high school, ain't it Buff?" he said. Or at least he tried to say as he couldn't hear a word of what he was saying. What he did fell was the taste of blood welling up in his mouth, indicating that he had sustained internal injuries.

Buffy again said something he couldn't hear, but which was probably meant to comfort him. Which could only mean one thing. It was dying time.

He didn't mind dying. He had always know, from the moment he had knew the truth about Buffy and began helping her that it would get him killed at some point. And after Jesse had died he no longer even cared any more. Just that he would take plenty of those bastards with him. And he liked to think that he had taken care of that many times over.

For a while he hoped that he would die Götterdammerung style, facing a horde of vampires and demons, killing a godawful lot of them in very gruesome ways before succumbing to their numbers, snarling one last shout of defiance to them before dying.

But that made no sense because it would still mean that the demons would have won.

No, far better to go out like he was going out now. Dying after having saved Buffy's life. It would give her a chance to save the day, and he knew it would make the Big Guy proud of him.

Yeah, if you had to go, this was absofragginlutely _the_ way to go!

And it didn't even hurt! Talk about extra bonus score!

While Buffy talked some more, tears rolling down her eyes, Xander began to cough up blood in increasing amounts. At this rate he figured he might drown in his own blood at some point soon. Good, at least it would be over for him. He just wished he could do more for her. But now that she had the ability to go Super, she didn't really need him any more. Right?

Then a new face appeared in his line of vision. One he didn't recognize.

It was an old woman. And as she knelt next to him she smiled at him.

"You have done well, proud warrior," she said, causing Xander to be surprised because unlike Buffy he could hear her as her voice came through the loud ringing in his ears like a hot knife through butter.

As if to illustrate his point Buffy again said something that he couldn't hear.

"This is, cough, odd," Xander coughed, but the old woman shook her head.

"Easy, warrior, easy. Do not exert yourself."

At the same time Buffy also said something.

"That is, cough, easy for you, cough, to say," Xander coughed, then he looked at the old woman's face, "Who are, cough, you?"

Again Buffy and the old woman spoke at the same time.

"Who I am is not important," the old woman said, " Rest assured that once you die you will go to the Holy Afterlife of your ancestors."

"God, I hope, cough, not," Xander coughed, "My father, cough, and his, cough, father were all, cough, assholes. I'd hate the, cough, idea that I, cough, have to spent, cough, eternity with, cough, them."

The old woman and Buffy looked puzzled at him, but then the old woman smiled.

"I understand," she smiled, then her face turned serious as Buffy also began to talk again, "You have fought bravely warrior, you have come a long way, my distant child of mine, but I have one more task for you to perform."

"Which, cough, is?"

The old woman leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

x

* * *

x

Oh God, Buffy thought as she knelt over Xander, don't die, Xander, please don't die!

In response Xander began to cough up increasing amounts of blood.

"Oh God," Buffy muttered desperately, "Hang in there, Xander, everything will be alright!"

It wasn't of course, but she didn't know anything else to say.

"This is, cough, odd," Xander suddenly said in a surprised tone of voice.

"What is, Xander?" Buffy asked curious.

"That is, cough, easy for you, cough, to say," Xander coughed, then he looked aside, "Who are, cough, you?"

"It's me, Buffy," she said worried, "Don't you recognize me, Xander?"

"That is, cough, easy for you, cough, to say," Xander coughed, then he looked slightly aside, "Who are, cough, you?"

Buffy looked aside as well but saw nothing.

"What is it, Xander, what are you seeing?"

"God, I hope, cough, not," Xander coughed again, "My father, cough, and his, cough, father were all, cough, assholes. I'd hate the, cough, idea that I, cough, have to spent, cough, eternity with, cough, them."

Okay, this conversation officially ceased making sense long ago and now passed the crazy ocean into the port of Lunacy.

"Xander, you're not making any sense," she said worried, "Don't out phase out. Stay with me, Xander."

"Which, cough, is?" Xander coughed, then he lilted his head like somebody was whispering something in his ear. To astonished to say anything Buffy watched on in silence.

Then what ever he seemed to be hearing stopped and Xander looked at her. With each breath blood now gushed from his mouth as he tried to say something but couldn't. As blood began to gulp into his lungs Xander proved unable to speak and began to suffocate

"XANDER!" Buffy yelled frantically, "DON'T GO! Don't leave me like this! Not you too!"

x

* * *

x

"This is bad," Yamcha said as he saw Gohan having difficulty getting up after having taken the blast meant for Vegeta, and the Slayer falling apart over a dying Xander.

"This is beyond bad," Tien said, "This is a clusterfuck beyond all proportions."

Then they saw Gohan as he got to his feet.

And to their shock his left arm hung limp by his side.

"Gohan!" Piccolo said horrified.

"Idiots!" Krillin said angrily, "The Dragonballs could have brought them back. Now it's all for nothing."

x

* * *

x

Tap.

Gently Cell lowered himself down to the ground and took stock of the situation.

"This is an unexpected surprise," he said. While Vegeta and the Slayer brat were still alive, her sidekick was all but dead and Gohan severely injured. Yeah, he could most definitely work with this.

"Enough fooling around," Cell said after he had stopped gloating, "I think I have let this go on for long enough,"

Cell then held out one arm in front of him, then he placed the other below and cupped both hands. Then he retracted both arms and placed them by his side.

"This time there will be no mercy," Cell announced, "None of you will walk away. NOW DIE WITH THE REST OF THE PLANET!"

And then Cell's power exploded.

x

* * *

x

"Aw crap," Yamcha muttered as he recognized Goku's signature move.

x

* * *

x

"Not like this!" Faith said aghast, "Not like this!"

x

* * *

x

In the SGC General Hammond turned to a lieutenant.

"How many people have we evacuated to the Alpha Site so far?" he asked.

The lieutenant briefly looked at a screen totaling the numbers of evacuees so far.

"22.187, sir," he read out. After which the general looked at O'Neill.

"Let us hope it is enough."

x

* * *

x

In Larry's bar everybody, including Larry himself was to glued to the screen to pay attention to anyone else. And even here, despite the lack of visuals, it seemed clear that the game was up.

So when Spike, being able to register Cell's power going through the roof, wanted one last beer, he had to reach behind the bar to get it himself.

x

* * *

x

God, he's strong, Gohan thought as he watched Cell, he came back even stronger then I thought. There's no way I'm going to be able to stop him. Not like this.

Not like this.

x

* * *

x

The only one not panicking at the sight of Cell about to destroy the Earth was Buffy, as she was completely focused on Xander dying in her arms.

"Don't die, Xander," she pleaded, "Don't you die on me as well."

Xander didn't respond on the account of that he was too busy drowning and gargling up his own blood.

"Don't die, Xander," Buffy cried as she rocked back and fro, "Don't die."

x

* * *

x

"If only we had one more senzu," Krillin sighed defeated, "One more senzu."

x

* * *

x

Suddenly Xander stopped making gargling noises and his eyes narrowed at Buffy's, then he sat up straight and pressed his forehead against hers. It lasted only for a second, then he dropped down again.

And he stopped trying to breathe.

"XANDER!"

x

* * *

x

"Xander, no," Willow said on board the Beliskner II, then she fell to the floor crying.

x

* * *

x

As Buffy cried Xander's body disappeared from her lap. Part of her even noticed it and knew it had to be the Asgard ship. Like it had teleported the other dead away.

But the greater part of her didn't notice. And frankly didn't even care.

Xander was dead.

x

* * *

x

Where the hell am I?

Standing in front of a large building floating amidst a sea of clouds Xander stood on top of a large floating road that led towards that building. It even had a gate with a sign that said WELCOME.

As a long line of small clouds floated past him towards the gate Xander couldn't help but be struck that the afterlife was a lot different then he was led on to believe.

"Sir, would you please be so kind as to move on," somebody said, upon which Xander turned around.

It was a man, dressed in a shirt and tie with a single horn growing straight up from his head holding a megaphone.

"Sir, you're holding up the line," the man said pointing to the road behind Xander, with a line of clouds now forming a small traffic jam behind him, "We're expected a lot of traffic to arrive shortly."

"Sorry," Xander said and made for the gate, where he saw more of the strange men guiding the clouds into the main building.

"No cutting in line," one of them spoke into a megaphone, "All souls are to continue in an orderly line and fashion. All will be judged properly."

"Judged?" Xander said aghast, "As in who gets to go to heaven and who gets to go to hell?"

"Yes," a voice suddenly said behind him.

x

* * *

x

On the bridge of the Beliskner II Xander's dead and damaged body materialized not far from Willow, and the red headed sorceress threw herself on top of it crying.

"Xander, no!"

Leaving her to her grief Thor continued with the preparations for immediate departure. He had the list of people she wanted him to save, he would do so as asked. Cause after all, she was right. Something had to be saved from this sorry mess.

x

* * *

x

Goku and Kaio Sama had been engrossed watching what went on back on Earth when suddenly two figures flashed into existence in front of them.

"You!" Kaio Sama hissed horrified as he recognized one of them as Belmovekk, "Why aren't you in Hell where you belong? With the rest of your kind?"

"Nice to see you again, Lord of Worlds," Belmovekk said as he made a brief polite bow, then he grinned, "And to be honest, I was as surprised as you are."

"You should be in hell, you mass murdering bastard," Kaio Sama spat angrily, "Hell, you shouldn't even have your own body. That's an honor reserved only for great heroes."

"And so it would seem also for disciples of Gods," Xander said.

"Not if they're mass murderers," Kaio Sama said frowning.

"My role is not finished yet it would seem, o Lord of Worlds," Belmovekk said formally with just a slightest hint of mockery, "But there is not a whole lot we can do from this place. Except you perhaps."

"You want to put your filthy mass murdering hands on me, don't you?" Kaio Sama said disapprovingly.

"I am willing to say please?" Belmovekk said deadpan, then his face turned serious, "I must know what is happening to Buffy."

"He's just worried, Kaio Sama," Goku interjected, "Maybe you should let him?"

Kaio Sama looked at Goku, then at Belmovekk, then at Goku again, then he sighed.

"Fine, but only because _you_ asked me."

x

* * *

x

At the SGC General Hammond had ordered that the Predator drone feed be turned back on the big screen now that the demise of the Slayer had been averted."

"Ma'am," the general said towards Joyce, "Maybe you should go through the Stargate and leave while you still can. Teal'c's already taken your dau…."

"I'm not going anywhere else without my daughter," Joyce said shaking her head, "As long as Buffy's out there I'm not going."

"This might be our only chance," Giles said as he tried to goad her towards the exit, but Joyce pulled her arm free.

"I've already lost my husband today, I'm damn well not leaving without my daughter too."

x

* * *

x

"DIE ALONG WITH THIS MISERABLE PLANET!" Cell yelled as he continued his power build-up.

x

* * *

x

As he watched Cell's build-up of power Gohan felt both fear and shame.

 _I am sorry, father,_ he thought dejected, _I'm sorry that I could not save the Earth from Cell, the Earth that I was supposed to protect._

x

* * *

x

Xander was dead.

"No Xander, this can't be happening," Buffy muttered defeated, "not you too."

x

* * *

x

"Xander, no," Willow cried on top of Xander's dead body onboard the Beliskner II

x

* * *

x

"Good God people," the reporter spoke into his microphone, "Could this be the end of us all? Cell is making the ground shake underneath our feet and there seems to be nothing anyone can do about it!"

x

* * *

x

Having finally gotten a hold of himself Vegeta began to sit up straight and looked at Gohan's limp arm, then at Cell powering up.

 _Is this the end? Is this the end of me? Is this the final end of the Saiyan race? To be spared annihilation at the hands of Freeza and then to die here on this miserable planet?_

 _If only he hadn't….._

"I…., I can't believe it," Vegeta said in utter disbelief, "All this effort, all the training, and I was just a liability? Gohan, I am sorry."

x

* * *

x

 _Xander was dead._

They all leave me. Just like my father did. Then Belmo, now Xander. Soon, mom, Willow and the Twins will too. I just wasn't good enough.

x

* * *

x

Hearing Vegeta apologize almost had Gohan drop his jaw in utter disbelief. Vegeta? Apologizing? Those were two words that were destined to _never_ be in the same sentence. Ever!

 _The world must be coming to an end._

 _And he knows it. He knows that there is no more hope left._

x

* * *

x

 _Xander was dead._

 _I got him killed. I did it. I may not have pulled the trigger but I did it. I'm not good enough. I'm just not good enough. I'm….._

x

* * *

x

The remaining Z-fighters were watching on in horror, it wasn't like there was much they could do. Then Piccolo spoke up.

"Fuck this," he said softly, then he yelled in utter frustration, "FUCK THIS SHIT! I hate our complete and utter lack of power!"

x

* * *

x

 _Xander was dead._

 _I wish I never met Belmo. Sure we would all still die, but then at least I wouldn't feel like this…._

x

* * *

x

As Cell continued his power build-up he literally made the Earth shake.

"HAHAHAHA!" he laughed maniacally, "HOW DO YOU LIKE IT NOW? I'VE GOT ENOUGH CHI GATHERED NOW TO NOT ONLY BLOW UP EARTH, BUT THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM!"

"AND I GOT MORE!"

x

* * *

x

 _Xander was dead._

 _Forgive me Belmo, forgive me mother, for being this useless…._

x

* * *

x

In cities throughout the Earth buildings were shaking and people were panicking, fearing imminent collapse. Cities with less stringent building codes were already experiencing collapsing buildings.

x

* * *

x

As she heard Piccolo lament his uselessness Faith felt sorry for the Jolly Green Giant. He had done so much for her, he deserved better then to be and feel this useless.

"If only we had another Super Saiyan beyond a Super Saiyan," Krillin lamented.

That gave her an idea.

"What if we do?"

x

* * *

x

"COME ON, SON GOHAN," Cell yelled challengingly, "SHOW ME THE DEPTH OF YOUR RESISTANCE!"

x

* * *

x

"What is wrong with him?" Goku said astounded in the Afterlife, "Why's he not fighting back?"

"The Powers That Be must still exert a strong influence on him," Belmovekk said, "If only we…."

"Why don't you just talk to him," a new voice spoke up.

"Who said that?" Kaio Sama asked as he looked around.

"Just talk to him," the voice said, a voice rich in harmonic overtones.

Then a hand appeared on the edge of Snake Way.

And another.

Then some grunting followed and then Amūn hoisted himself over the edge and fell down panting on Snake Way.

"Damn," the Goa'uld mirror image of Belmovekk in gold armor panted heavily, "That was a long climb."

x

* * *

x

 _Xander was dead._

 _Her friend was no more. Dead as he saved her from the most boneheaded thing she'd ever done. And now it was too la…._

Then something stepped into her vision and knelt in front of her.

It was Faith.

x

x

"Where the hell did you come from?" Belmovekk said as Amūn kept panting.

"Funny you should…, pant, mention…, pant, Hell," Amūn panted.

"You do not make any sense, Worm," the Saiyan said, to which Amūn responded by putting his foot over the edge of Snake Way and tapped the edge a couple of times.

"What's down there?" Xander asked as he looked at the endless sea of yellow clouds below.

"Hell," Kaio Sama said.

"Like in fire and brimstone and all the demons we've been fighting for all these years?" Xander said incredulously?

"No," the Lord of Worlds said shaking his head, "There are many Hell dimensions. This one is closest though. It's were we send the bad people. Like this…."

Kaio Sama turned around and looked at Amūn.

"You're a Goa'uld. You belong in Hell. How the hell did you get out of Hell? And how did you get a body?"

"We are linked," Belmovekk said, "Somehow we are linked. And when I retained my body, he did too. And since his last body was mine…."

"You can escape from Hell," Amūn said as he began to grin, "especially if you have a body."

x

* * *

x

"What is the point of fighting?" Gohan said to Cell as he clutched his injured arm, "Just get it over with. My best isn't good enough anyway. I just wish I could have defeated you."

"He he he," Cell chuckled, "Not only stupid last words, but also a very dull ending."

x

* * *

x

"B.!" Faith shouted in Buffy's face, "Snap out of it!"

"Xander's dead," Buffy said back sullen, "It's my fault. I killed hi…."

SMACK!

With almost visible glee Faith planted her hand into Buffy's face.

A feeling which almost immediately died as her hand turned numb. Damn! Hitting Super Buffy was like hitting that proverbial brick wall. But it got the trick done.

"Hey," Buffy protested as she rubbed her cheek.

"Newsflash!" Faith yelled into Buffy's face, "Yeah, Xander's dead. That's bad. You know what's also bad? Us dying too!"

x

* * *

x

"Talk to your son, talk to your daughter, Saiyans," Amūn said, "Cause they are the only hope we got. Only if the Slayer and the Saiyan, in this case half-Saiyan, work together can Cell be stopped. But you two have to talk some sense into them first."

Belmovekk and Goku looked at each other.

"But how?" Goku asked the Goa'uld. Who then facepalmed himself.

"What an imbecile," he groaned.

"Through me of course," Kaio Sama said.

"But who are we going to talk too?" Belmovekk said, "Surely we cannot talk to both of them at the same time?"

"Of course you can," Kaio Sama said as he rolled his eyes, "My powers are limitless. If you want I could make the whole world hear you. But two conversations at the same time however…"

The two Saiyans looked at each other.

"You go first," they both said at the same time.

Then, before they could say anything again Xander stepped in.

"You! Talk to your son, he needs an immediate peptalk," Xander said pointing to Goku, then he pointed Belmovekk, "You, wait your turn. Faith might pull something off."

x

* * *

x

Standing there clutching his arm Gohan waited for the inevitable defeat when suddenly he heard a voice in his head.

 _Gohan! Don't you dare give up!_

Gohan immediately recognized that voice.

"D-DAD?!" he shouted as he looked up, "B-but where are you?"

x

* * *

x

"Sure, B., you got people killed," Faith continued, "But you're going to get a hell of a lot more people killed by playing the Angel game. Don't play the Angel game. That's not the B. I remember. Where's kickass B.? I wanna see that chick again!"

x

* * *

x

" _I'm in the afterlife, son,"_ Goku spoke as his words were relayed by Kaio Sama, _"The Lord of World is putting me through. Special long distance as it were."_

Goku swallowed briefly before continuing.

" _Now, come on and fire up a Kamehameha like Cell and blow him to kingdom come. If you do it, I'm sure you can win."_

x

* * *

x

"I'm just not good enough," Buffy said as she shook her head dejected, "I'm just no…."

SMACK!

Again Faith slapped Buffy in the face.

"Stop it!" Faith yelled angrily, "I've had it up to here with your self pity. The fucking world's at stake! Gohan's injured and we're in injury time here. You're not useless. You're the fucking Slayer! Act like one! For fuck's sake we're the descendants of the Legendary Super Saiyan. Saiyans should shit their pants about us!"

x

* * *

x

Something odd was happening, Cell thought. The two Slayers were talking to each other, but Cell didn't mind. Despite her recent power up she didn't matter. But Gohan had started to talk as well. To somebody he couldn't see.

"But what good would it do now?" he heard Gohan say, "I can only use one arm, and my power is less then half now."

"Hehehe," Cell chuckled relieved, "He's talking to himself out of fear."

x

* * *

x

"You did what I didn't think was possible," Faith continued, "You broke the barrier and became a Super Slayer. You proved me wrong, hell, you proved everybody wrong. Except for Belmovekk. That fucker believed in you, all the way! He died for you! Give his death some fucking meaning!"

x

* * *

x

"Tough love approach," Xander said in the Afterlife, "Faith really doesn't know how to do subtle."

"She may surprise you all," Amūn said and took hold of Xander's leg, "Don't mind me, I just want to see what's going on."

x

* * *

x

 _You can do it Gohan,_ Goku's voice spoke in Gohan's mind, _you can win if only you start believing in your own power. Remember those people Belmovekk talked about? They're afraid of you. They filled your head with doubts. Made you not believe in yourself. Believe in yourself and you have that power. Show me the power that we both made._

"O-okay," Gohan said, "I'll do what I can."

x

x

In the Afterlife Xander and Belmovekk looked at each other.

"That doesn't sound like someone who plans to win," Xander said, causing Goku to glance at him.

"Have a heart," Goku said in Gohan's defense, "all things considering he's doing great."

x

* * *

x

"Look," Faith said as she nodded towards Gohan, "He's getting back in the fight. It's about time you did also, B."

"He's like a friggin' Super Saiyan on Popeye spinach," Buffy protested, "At best I'm just a regular Super Saiyan, even Vegeta's stronger then me. There's no…."

Faith raised her hand in anger.

"So God help me, B.," she said angry, "If you say the words nothing and useless one more time I'm gonna tear off your ass and wear it for a hat."

Buffy wanted to say something, then she didn't.

"You broke the barrier, girl," Faith said and grabbed hold of Buffy's head with both hands, "It's gone! Nothing is now beyond you. You want some of that Super Saiyan Popeye spinach? Let's get some!"

Then Faith pressed her forehead against Buffy's.

x

* * *

x

"I'm sorry father," Gohan said regretful, "I let you die because I let my power get to my head."

 _That's okay son,_ Goku's voice spoke in his mind, _I'm here with Kaio Sama and the others. We'll have a lot of fun here together. You just have a good time there on Earth._

"Got it!" Gohan said, then he raised his power, and his chi flames and electrical discharges came back to life.

x

* * *

x

"That's one," Xander said, "Now let's hope that Faith will get Buffy back in the fight."

x

* * *

x

"Where the hell are we?"

As Faith looked around both Buffy and her were on some god forsaken dusty plain, with a sun high overhead.

"Well, the sun seems normal, so I guess while not Kansas, at least somewhere on the same planet at least?" Buffy said.

"I guess you're the expert," Faith said, then she gestured ahead, "Shall we get on with it? Time's kinda short right now."

"We're inside, well, I guess, we're inside me," Buffy said as she had one more look around, "I don't think time's gonna matter much."

"Why take the chance?" Faith said as she began to walk. Buffy watched her walk away in disbelief.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she finally began to follow Faith.

"To get to the heart of the problem," Faith said as she kept up a brisk pace.

"But how do you know it's not the other way?" Buffy protested.

"We're inside your mind, B.," Faith shrugged, "This isn't real. This is how…. how do you call things which represent things but are called something else?"

"Metaphors?" Buffy suggested.

"Godblessya," Faith grinned.

x

* * *

x

Belmovekk knelt next to Amūn, still lying on Snake Way and panting as he kept touching Xander's leg.

"Tell me this," the Saiyan asked curious, "When you found yourself in Hell, in my body, did you find yourself there after I died? Or were you there already? Having spent all these years paying for your arrogance thinking you were a God?"

Amūn looked at Belmovekk and his eyes narrowed.

"I remember everything of our time together, Saiyan," the Goa'uld said, "All the craziness, the strange things we did, the killing, the slaughtering."

"I see," Belmovekk said pensive, "Does that mean that your soul was inside me for all this time?"

Amūn wanted to say something, then he changed his mind.

"I'm not sure," he said uncertain, "I feel like I was here as well. And yet I do not remember."

x

x

"More metaphors?" Faith said as she halted.

They had crossed the plain of Buffy as she had dubbed it, in a time that seemed like it had taken an eternity, only to arrive at a mountain range of unassailable heights. Even more so because in Buffy's fucked up mind they couldn't fly or use their great strength. Climbing these mountains using old fashioned elbow grease would take like forever.

But then they spotted a pass right between two mountains, a narrow valley. It seemed like the answer to their problems. Only to then run into a different problem.

At the heart of the mountain pass stood a group of men blocking the way.

They were black and dressed in African tribal clothes and furs, radiating a vibe of older wisdom and some form of magical power at the same time. As they saw the two of them coming they got up from the campfire they were around and blocked their way.

Then one of the men stepped forward and spoke to them, in a language which they didn't recognize and yet at the same time understood perfectly.

"You cannot pass," the man said.

"Yeah, you and what army?" Faith said defiantly, to which the man just shrugged unimpressed.

"You cannot pass," the man repeated as he not stepped aside.

Faith glanced at Buffy, then she sighed.

"Out of my way, oldtimer," she said and put her hand on his shoulder to push him aside.

Only to get an electrical shock which made her instinctively withdraw her hand. The shock then stopped, but her hand felt completely numb. As she began to rub her hand she looked at the man with eyes glaring pure murder.

"So you like to play games, huh?" she said, then she lashed out with her other arm and tried to plant her fist into his face.

Only to have it stopped as the man caught her fist and held it inches from her face. Next thing she fell on her knees as she experienced another electrical shock that turned her entire arm numb.

"Damn!" Faith exclaimed as her arm fell limp by her side.

"FAITH!" Buffy yelled as she came to her fellow Slayer's aid.

"We may have a problem, B.," Faith said deadpan, "George of the Jungle here won't budge."

As Faith mentioned the strange men Buffy couldn't help but look at him. When she did she looked right into his eyes. And the man looked back.

Then, to her surprise the man stepped aside.

"You may pass," the man said in that strange yet understandable language of his.

"You've got to be friggin' kidding me," Faith said as she stood up, her hands now clutched underneath her armpits. But as she tried to get passed the man stepped back in front of her again.

"You may not pass," the man said, "Only she is allowed. For now."

Faith looked at Buffy.

"I guess this is where we go our separate ways again, B.," Faith said.

"But I thought…..," Buffy protested, but Faith cut her short.

"Just get on with it!" she shouted, "Cell's about to blow up the world, remember?"

A little uncertain Buffy walked past Faith and the man stepped aside again, then she walked past him, and through the other men. After she had passed she turned around one last time to look at Faith.

Only to see that the men had changed.

No longer were they black men dressed in tribal clothing, they were now Caucasian men, dressed like scientists. And the fire was now replaced by a large computer bank scrolling various data.

"Just go!" Faith called out one more time, "Go find that spinach!"

Nodding one last time to her fellow Slayer, Buffy turned around and ran through the mountain pass.

x

* * *

x

Lifting up his one good arm in front of him Gohan began to gather in his energy.

"KA!"

Then he withdrew it to his side.

"ME!"

Normally this would be the point where both hands would cup each other at his waist side, but he only had one good arm.

"HA!"

Then Gohan's power began to rise sharply as he began to charge his attack.

"ME!"

x

* * *

x

"It's no good!" Piccolo called out horrified as he watched his former student charge his attack, "He can't win! Gohan's power has weakened!"

x

x

After passing through the mountain pass Buffy emerged onto yet another plain. Another one with seemingly no end in sight nor any visible clue as to where to go next.

"Where do I go from here?" she said desperate.

Then a familiar voice spoke up.

 _This way._

"Xander?" Buffy said as she looked around, but she saw nobody. But then she again her the voice whispering.

 _This way._

x

* * *

x

As the two powers drew in more and more energy the whole valley was shacking and earth and small pieces of rock began to rise into the air.

"Buffy!" Riley called despairingly, still in the grip of Tien and Yamcha.

"I feel for you, dude," Yamcha said, "But its too dangerous to let you go. You'll only get yourself killed."

"We'll die anyway," Riley said as he looked at Yamcha, "If we're gonna die, at least I want to die together. With her."

Tien looked at the two Slayers, still locked together, forehead to forehead.

"Let's give them a little more time," he said tentatively.

"You think they're up to something?" Yamcha asked.

"With these Slayers you never know," Tien replied, "You never know."

x

* * *

x

 _This way,_ what seemed like Xander's voice whispered again.

For what seemed like forever Buffy had run across the large plain, to the point that even the mountains behind her had disappeared, with only the mysterious voice guiding her on.

Just as it seemed like there was no end to her journey and she would give up she spotted something in the distance. A small dot on the horizon.

 _This way,_ the voice spoke again.

"God, this is more wigsome then those wiginfested dreams Adam used to send us," Buffy muttered.

x

* * *

x

Sitting on a large rock Faith eyed the old men wearily.

They had gone back to standing around the campfire, but each time she tried to sneak past them, they were on to her.

She had contemplated climbing the mountainside and that way get past these men, but the mountains were smooth as a billiard ball. There was literally nothing for her to grab on too.

"Come on, B.," Faith said impatiently, "Let's get this over with."

x

* * *

x

The small dot in the distance turned into a larger dot, then into a stone dais. And then Buffy stopped as she recognized who was on top of the dais.

It was the First Slayer, lying on top of the dais like a sacrificial offering. Her black unkempt hair flowing out from her head, the tribal markings on her face.

The last time she had seen the First Slayer it had stalked her inside her dreams. Which kinda made her a bit hesitant to move on.

 _Touch,_ the voice that sounded so much like Xander now said.

"You've got to be kidding me," Buffy said incredulously, "That's the First Slayer, she'd tear me apart if I did."

 _Touch,_ the voice repeated in an insisting tone of voice.

"But what if…..," Buffy said hesitantly.

The voice didn't reply. And yet she could almost feel that it was losing patience with her.

"Alright, alright," she said as she began to walk towards the dais.

She had barely taken five steps when out of nowhere somebody appeared in front of her. One that she immediately recognized.

"Whistler?" she said surprised as the balancing demon straightened his pork pie hat.

"The same," Whistler replied, then he shook his head, "Don't go there girl, this power is not for you. It was never meant for you."

"But I have too," Buffy protested, "Otherwise…., Cell…, he'll destroy the Earth."

"Gohan is stepping up to the plate kiddo," Whistler said, "No need for you to do the same."

As he spoke Buffy had a vision in her mind of Gohan charging his own mother of all Kamehameha's to counter Cell's.

"He is?" Buffy said softly, "Then I don't…..?"

"You can finally go back to the bench and let Gohan swing a home run, kiddo," Whistler smiled encouragingly, "Besides, it's not like you could have done a whole lot anyway. Both Gohan and Cell are way out of your league to begin with."

'I, uh," Buffy stammered, then she eyed Whistler wearily. Something was wrong.

 _He lies,_ the voice whispered, sounding more like Xander then before, _you know it._

"How come you're not dead?" Buffy said as she pointed at Whistler, "Belmo killed you. He tortured you to death."

"We're inside your mind, kiddo," Whistler shrugged, "Anything can happen there. Including me coming back to life."

"Yeah, but why you?" Buffy countered, "Why are you here?"

 _Because he's the one messenger of the Powers That Be that you've interacted with,_ Xander's voice said, sounding so tangible now that she feared that if she looked around she might look into his face.

"Why do you not want me to touch the First Slayer?," Buffy said as she stepped forward and thumbed Whistler on his chest, causing him to stagger backwards, "You work for Them, right? You've always worked for Them."

"You don't understand," Whistler said as he clutched his chest, now looking very much like he did in Belmo's torture movie, haggard, bloodied and defeated, "You really weren't meant to have this kind of power. You'd tear the world apart. Just like she did."

The First Slayer had now also changed.

As did the dais.

Gone was the dais, instead there was now a surgical table, with on it the First Slayer. But she no longer looked like the menacing possessed girl that had haunted her in her dreams. Instead she looked like remarkably much like Mayan. With a different face of course, but aside from that it could almost be her sister lying up there.

The girl was hooked into all sorts of medical tubing and wiring, lying there unconscious. As she looked at her Buffy felt sympathy well up for her. Here was a girl, very much like her, and taken away from what would have been a normal life. And instead she had become a pawn in someone else's game.

"See the truth they didn't want you to see," Xander's voice now whispered in her ear, so tangible she could feel the humid air from his breath, "Go up to her and take what is yours."

Buffy walked past Whistler and up to the surgical table.

"No, you can't!" Whistler protested but she ignored his cries. She understood it now. He was just the final remnant of their programming meant to control her. He didn't matter.

As she stepped closer to the First Slayer/Saiyan Buffy could feel her power grow again, the chi coarse through her veins.

"Put a sock in it," she said, aimed her hand and Whistler and shot a ball of energy at him.

"NOOOOO!" Whistler wailed as the ball of energy slammed into him, then he dissipated as the energy consumed him.

Meanwhile Buffy walked up to the First Slayer/Saiyan, lying on the surgical table.

"They took you away from your friends, your family, your loved ones, your home," Buffy said softly, "They used you as a weapon for their own purposes, now the time has come for us to take the power back. And give them something to really cry about."

And with that Buffy thrust her hands forward and placed them on the First Slayer/Saiyan's chest.

Who then opened her eyes and looked up at Buffy. Then Buffy heard two voices speak as one, one the First Slayer/Saiyan, the other Xander's.

"Avenge us!"

x

* * *

x

Faith was still sitting on her rock, brooding, trying to come up with a way to get past these shadow men when suddenly something clicked in her mind and she looked up.

As the world around her began to fade she jumped up, began to grin from ear to ear and raised her fist in celebration.

"HELL YEAH! GO B.!"

x

* * *

x

Just as Tien and Yamcha were about to let Riley go, Faith opened her eyes, got up and ran away.

"THE SHIT'S GOING TO HIT THE FAN!" she yelled frantically as she ran for cover.

Then Buffy opened her eyes also.

x

* * *

x

"SHE DID IT!" Xander yelled triumphantly in the afterlife.

"Attagirl," Amūn said appreciatively.

"I am so proud of her," Belmovekk said, beaming with pride.

x

* * *

x

In Larry's bar, Spike, with his ability to detect chi, stopped trying to drink himself senseless. Something had happened. The power of the Slayer had suddenly more then doubled.

Did that mean there was still a chance he might survive?

And did he really want to live in a world where the Slayer could be this powerful? After all, there would be no stopping her ego right now.

x

* * *

x

As the others watched on in both horror and fascinated awe Buffy got to her feet.

"What? She's now reached the second level as well?" Yamcha exclaimed as he let go of Riley, then he looked at Tien, "You were right."

"Yeah," Tien said softly as he too let go of Riley.

"Cheer up, bro," Yamcha said as he patted Tien on the shoulder, "See! There's hope for you after all. For all of us."

Like Gohan her hair stood up more straight, and electrical discharges arced around her. But her chi flames were even duller then before, more silver then gold, and her hair had turned platinum blonde.

"Buffy?" Riley exclaimed in shock as he watched his fiancée get up.

"I think we should leave," Faith said as she dusted herself off, "With two of them things might get a little hairy."

"Faith's right," Piccolo agreed, "Everyone, fall back!"

"But Buffy," Riley protested, as one after the other took off. Then he felt a hand take hold of his shoulder.

"Come, Major Finn," Jamison's voice said calmly, "You're not going to be of much use to her now. Let's give her some room to fight."

x

* * *

x

To Cell's surprise the Slayer went from being psychologically broken to reaching a new level of power similar to Gohan and him.

This was really starting to turn into a weird kind of a day.

He briefly even wondered if that strange demon had something to do with it.

"So, the Slayer's come to join the party," Cell jeered, "A little late don't you think? Run away, little Slayer, the grownups are about to play."

Buffy didn't immediately respond. Then she began to smirk.

"So you're going to ignore me then?" she said, "Don't you know that that don't work with girls like me?"

"I was kinda hoping that it would," Cell said annoyed.

Stepping aside Buffy used her nail to make a slash in her other handpalm.

"Think again, Supreme Dalek."

x

* * *

x

"What's she doing?" Goku said worried in the afterlife, "If she wants to combine her attack she shouldn't be walking away from Gohan. They'd need to be as close together as possible."

"Maybe she's not planning to work together with your son?" Kaio Sama remarked, "Maybe she has something different in mind."

"That would get them killed, right?" Xander said equally worried, then he looked at Belmovekk, "Maybe this new power got to her head?"

"I do not think so," Belmovekk said pensive as he watched Buffy move further and further away until she, Gohan and Cell formed a triangle, then he understood what she was going for, "Clever girl!"

"What?" Goku asked.

"The Trio," Belmovekk remarked.

"Is that some new flashy move you've made?" Kaio Sama asked.

Then the Goa'uld began to laugh.

"Flashy move?" he snorted with laughter, "Think Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo."

Xander looked at the Goa'uld, then his eyes grew big in realization as he began to laugh as well.

"The Good, the Bad & the Ugly? Hahaha!"

Meanwhile Goku and Kaio Sama looked at each other, not getting it.

"Would somebody _please_ explain to me what's going on?"

x

* * *

x

Much to his surprise Gohan watched Buffy, whom he thought would fight along his side, move away from him.

"Well, if you're not going to join in the fight, why not be so kind as to bugger off," Cell said annoyed, "You're kinda cramping my style here."

"Yeah I know," Buffy said as she used her fingernails to slash her other handpalm, "You want to have a big strong lightshow with Gohan there."

"So you see reason?" Cell remarked, "That you're kinda superfluous here?"

"I wouldn't go that far," as Buffy bend over and picked up a rock, "Shoot Gohan and you'll lose."

As Cell and Gohan watched her in amazement she then pretended to write something on the rock, then she threw it in the middle.

x

* * *

x

"Oh, shameless plagiarism," Amūn chuckled in the afterlife.

"Think of it more like a tribute to the classics," Xander said.

Kaio Sama and Goku again looked at each other. Then the Lord of Worlds began to yell again.

"WILL SOMEBODY _PLEASE_ TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?"

x

* * *

x

"What's on that?" Cell asked as the rock landed in the middle of the three of them.

"The answer to the $200.000 in gold question," Buffy replied as she held her injured handpalms up, letting the blood well from her wounds. Then two dots of red energy began to glow and the blood from the wounds began to mix with the energy, further increasing the power growing.

"There's two kinds of people, my biological android friend," Buffy said as the power of her attacks began to increase, "Those with loaded attacks, and those who have to face two of them."

x

* * *

x

"Now I get!" Goku said in the afterlife, "She's going to attack Cell separately."

"Isn't that stupid?" Kaio Sama said back, "I mean Cell's stronger then either of them."

"Yeah, but they can throw everything they got at him," Goku countered, "He can no longer concentrate everything he has on Gohan, he has to take her into account as well."

Kaio Sama looked oddly at Goku, then at the others who nodded in agreement.

"This goes against everything I have ever taught," the Lord of Worlds said dejected.

x

* * *

x

"Your choice, Supreme Dalek," Buffy said as the two orbs of energy had grown to the size of two beach balls, "Shoot Gohan and I'll fuck you up so hard you'll be shitting out that other android as well."

 _Now I get it,_ Gohan thought, _she's forcing Cell to divide his power. I may not have to take Cell full head on!_

x

* * *

x

Up on the ridge the Z-fighters had touched down amidst the remainder of Belmovekk's soldiers and they had come to the same conclusion.

"How come that's never worked for us?" Yamcha asked, "We've always attacked in groups without success."

"Because Cell has to concentrate everything he has to defeat one of them," Piccolo explained, "and if he does so he becomes vulnerable to the other. He has no choice but to face them both at the same time. Normally it would never work, but now… Quite clever actually."

As he put down #18's still unconscious body Krillin let out a deep sigh.

"I hope this works."

x

* * *

x

"I've had enough of this," Cell yelled annoyed, then he released his energy, "DIE!"

x

* * *

x

"FATHER!" Gohan yelled as he released his.

x

* * *

x

"This is for you, Belmo," Buffy said, then she brought her hands again in front of her and combined the two globes of energy into a single big one, "FIRE AND BLOOD!"

x

* * *

x

"I taught her that," Belmovekk said proudly in the afterlife, "That's my move."

"Nice," Goku said appreciatively.

x

* * *

x

As one pale blue and one ruby red beam lanced towards Cell, two pale blue beams sped to meet both attacks head on. At the last possible moment Cell pulled apart both hands and split his attack.

"DAMN YOU, SLAYER!" the biological construct yelled angrily.

x

* * *

x

"YES! She did it!" Xander yelled elated in the afterlife, "She managed to split his attack!"

"Yeah, I can see that," Kaio Sama said a little short tempered, "So she managed to do that. What now? How can they win?"

The two Saiyans, the earthling and the Goa'uld looked at each other a little unsure.

"Please tell me there's a plan?" Kaio Sama asked, "Please tell me there is more to this then just divide his big beam into two smaller beams? Please tell there is some kind of greater strategy here at work?"

"I, uh, don't know," Xander said a little sheepishly, "I, um, mean, it's Buffy, she, um, always kinds of wings it."

Next thing Kaio-Sama facepalmed himself. Then he looked to the heavens.

"No Kaio Sama," he said in an poor imitation of Goku's voice, "my son will win the day. I'm going to let him face an evil robot monster all by himself. And then I die and leave him completely to his own devices."

Then the Lord of Worlds turned to Belmovekk.

"And you! You mass murdering bastard and your Goa'uld sidekick. Trying to get himself killed just so his girl could go up a notch or two."

Kaio Sama rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"Here we have two Saiyans, supposed masters at fighting. Geniuses in the art of combat. And _this_ is the best plan you guys could come up with?"

Before anyone else could say anything Goku spoke up.

"Gee, Kaio Sama, when you say it like that it sounds kinda lame."

Kaio Sama's face turned purple as he made strangling noises, then he facepalmed himself. Then Amūn spoke up.

"I think that was his whole point."

x

* * *

x

As the other fighters watched on from the distant ridge they saw two massive spheres of energy eating away at what remained of the valley. One pale blue, the other half pale blue, half ruby red.

"They're gonna tear the planet apart," one of the soldiers said, "This fight will be the death of us all."

"Better that it happens during this fight rather then at the hands of Cell," Riley said, "At least with them we still got a chance."

"I'm not so sure about that," the soldier replied unconvinced.

x

* * *

x

As the SGC shook on its foundations to the point that pieces of concrete were falling from the ceiling General Hammond spoke into a phone.

"Yes, Mr. President," he said with a calmness that belied the Earth's current predicament, "I am aware that there are reports of earthquakes all over the planet…. yes, that includes Washington DC…. no, I did not know there's now also freak weather across the planet and that Airforce One is experiencing extreme turbulence….. I am sorry, Mr. President, that Laura has thrown up on the Secretary of Agriculture, but there's not a whole lot I can do about that…. It's now up to them, Mr. President….. I know I said that before. But we lost our space ships and not even Thor thinks his main gun is of much use…. I know, Mr. President. We will do what we can."

As he handed the cordless phone over to an aide General Hammond flopped into a chair.

"Lemme guess," O'Neill said as he joined General Hammond's side, "The president is not pleased? Or is that an understatement?"

Before General Hammond could say anything a piece of concrete broke off the ceiling and fell down beneath the two men.

Meanwhile Daniel was with Giles as he feverishly scanned through his prophecies.

"Are you sure there's not a single clue in them as to how we can deal with this Cell?" Daniel asked, but Giles just shook his head.

"Nothing," the former Watcher said as he wiped away concrete dust that had fallen on top of his papers, "there's not a shred of a clue to be found. All it says is that the Great Enemy has increased Cell's power dramatically, and that we should listen to the Dead."

Daniel looked at the exhausted former Watcher.

"You know, with clues like that they might as well not give you any clues," he said dispirited, "It would save you a lot of time to begin with."

x

* * *

x

While very much accustomed to earthquakes, the current tremors were hitting Sunnydale pretty hard, causing more then half of the clientele of Larry's bar to have run away. But as pieces of bar were falling all around them, those that stayed continued to listen to the audio fragments that still came in from the Cell Games.

x

* * *

x

Good God!

As Cell's attack hit Gohan's own Kamehameha the clash reverberated back through his own beam and nearly caused him to lose control.

What the hell? This was Cell at half power?

Then it was a good thing he thought that Buffy had joined in. Otherwise this duel would have been over the instant Cell had fired on him alone.

x

* * *

x

"What kind of vitamins did he take in that Afterlife?" Buffy grunted as she poured her energy into her Fire and Blood attack. Which in hindsight wasn't probably the best attack she could have chosen. Sure it packed a slightly bigger punch then the Kamehameha, but at least she was more familiar with that one.

x

* * *

x

Much to his surprise Cell found that despite having split his attacks, he seemed to be doing quite alright against the both of them, thank you very much!

"HAHAHAHA," Cell laughed out loud, "Somebody's not been taken their vitamins!"

x

* * *

x

"They can't do it!" Piccolo said out loud, to make himself heard above the strong winds blasting their position, "They're being overpowered!"

"There has to be something we can do?" Riley shouted.

"Like what?" Yamcha yelled back, "You walk into one of those beams and you're instantly vaporized!"

Riley looked at Yamcha, then back at the fight.

 _Be careful, Buffy, be careful._

x

* * *

x

Despite everything the last Predator drone had survived everything in collateral damage effects that the Cell Games had thrown at him and continued to relay imagery from the battlefield, and at the SGC command room everybody was staring at them.

"Two battles at the same time," Daniel said in awe, "Each probably big enough to blow up the planet."

"Well, Daniel, if my numbers are correct," Sam said, she then stopped to find the right kind of words, "well, let's just say the whole Solar System will be a gonner."

"Actually, Major Carter," the voice of Thor spoke like he was actually present in the room, "Everything in a three light-year radius from Earth will be destroyed."

"Thor, budy," O'Neill spoke up, "never tell us the odds."

"I am sorry, O'Neill," Thor's voice said regretful, "I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, buddy," O'Neill said, "Is there a point to your call? You're leaving right?"

"If the Beliskner II is to survive the blast I must take her out of here right now," Thor's voice said even more regretful, "I can however do you one last favor."

Thor then proceeded to tell them Willow's backup plan.

"That's actually not a bad idea," General Hammond said afterwards.

"Those Dragonballs can actually restore a destroyed planet?" Sam said incredulously, "If they're that powerful, why not use them against Cell?"

"I asked that question myself, Major Carter," Thor's voice said, "I was told that, 'it does not work that way'."

"Figures," O'Neill snorted, "It can never be easy."

x

* * *

x

Sensing that he had the upper hand Cell began laugh again,

"WA HA HA!" he laughed, "This is it! Thanks for all the good times, now I'm going to finish you. So….. DIE!"

And then Cell cranked it up a notch, causing both event horizons to move forward as Cell now completely gained control of both massive spheres.

x

* * *

x

"They're slipping!" Xander yelled in the afterlife, "They're slipping!"

"We've got to do something," Amūn said frantically, "They're gonna lose."

"We've got to speak to our kids again," Goku said to Belmovekk.

"I concur," Belmovekk replied.

x

* * *

x

God, this is awful, Gohan thought as he desperately tried to hang on in there. What kind of energy reserves does this monster have? I….

 _Gohan!_

"Dad?" Gohan said out loud, "Is that you again?"

 _Come on son,_ Goku's voice said encouragingly, _hang in there! You still haven't used all of your power yet. Just let it rip, son._

"I'll try, dad," Gohan grunted, "I'll try."

x

* * *

x

Unless you were a Jedi knight hate could be a good thing. Hate was a powerful motivator. Hate brought clarity, hate brought focus, but above all, hate allowed you to go that extra mile.

I hate you, Buffy thought viciously as she poured her essence into her Fire and Blood attack, I hate you with every, what are those tiny things you put in your food to produce a big dump? Those things! I…..

 _Buffy!_

Hearing Belmovekk's voice almost caused Buffy to lose control. Thankfully she managed not to.

"Belmo?"

 _Yes,_ Belmovekk's voice said, _I speak to you from the Afterlife. I am here with Goku and Xander and…, well, as you always called him, my best invisible friend. He sends his regards by the way._

"Am I crazy now?" Buffy said confused, "I'm hearing voices."

Her confusing was allowing the event horizon to further slip back towards her.

 _Focus, young lady,_ Belmovekk's voice snapped, _focus!_

"Sorry," Buffy said as she focused her attention and pushed the event horizon back a few feet.

 _Now, listen up,_ Belmovekk's voice spoke, _we are watching you both from the Afterlife and Goku has already spoken to his son. It is now my turn to speak to you._

 _Do not hold anything back. Give it everything you have. Any doubts that you might have are the result of the Powers That Be still trying to influence you. So tear Cell a new one, and avenge us! Do not bring shame to the house of Movekk or so help your mother, I will rag you over it in the Afterlife like forever. Got it?_

x

* * *

x

"That's your idea of a pep talk?" Kaio Sama said incredulously as he looked at Belmovekk.

"Actually, for him that's a very good pep talk," Xander chuckled.

"She knows that I am proud of her," Belmovekk shrugged, "To add false sentiments would take away from the message."

"Saiyans," Kaio Sama said as he shook his head in dejection.

x

* * *

x

Whatever it was, Belmovekk's little speech seemed to have worked as Buffy managed to push the event horizon back to the center of her red/blue energy sphere.

"She's back in the fight," Faith said on the ridge, "Wherever she got it from, she managed to do it."

"But she's not overpowering Cell," Piccolo said stoically, "Until she does that it's still a tie.

"Mister sunshine," Faith grumbled. But deep down she knew that Jolly Green was right.

"To bad Gohan's still slipping," Krillin said next to her, "

x

* * *

x

 _GOHAN,_ Goku's voice yelled in Gohan's mind, _you're still holding back!_

"I'm doing my best, father," Gohan grunted, "I can't do any better then this!"

 _No you're not,_ Goku's voice said almost accusing, _I can sense you holding back. You're holding back because you're worried about damaging the Earth, right? Don't! We've got the Dragonballs, remember? We can fix anything that happens to the Earth. But only if you defeat Cell. Now, give it everything you got! You can do it!_

x

* * *

x

"You guys think that will work?" Goku said in the Afterlife, "It sounded kind of corny. Maybe I should have told him about those influencing Powers?"

"He's a twelve year old child," Amūn replied, "What he wants above all is his father's approval and faith, to hear his father tell him that he can do it."

"How come you're so knowledgeable about raising kids?" Xander asked the Goa'uld.

"I do have children of my own, you know."

x

* * *

x

"He's coming back in the fight," Tien said as Gohan managed to push the event horizon back to the centre of his gynormous sphere of energy.

"Its not enough though," Piccolo said worried, "unless something tips the scale it's not enough."

x

* * *

x

Having tried to overpower both fighters at the same time and gotten rebuffed Cell thought a new strategy might end the current stalemate. Instead of trying to overpower both, why not try and overpower one? And he had just the one in mind.

While technically the stronger of the two he figured that the Slayer was the more vicious and stubborn of the two. She had to be, as a Slayer she was destined for a short brutal life. The fact that she had lasted for this long had to speak of her character.

No, Gohan seemed the weaker one of the two.

"This must be hard for you with all those wounds," Cell gloated loudly, "I'm sure this will make them BURN!"

And with that he pumped up the amount of energy he poured into the attack aimed at Gohan.

x

* * *

x

Damn you Cell, Buffy thought as she saw Cell push back the event horizon on Gohan's attack.

 _Going for the old divide and conquer huh?_

"GOHAN, HANG IN THERE!" she yelled, then she dug within herself to find some more energy, "HEY CELL, SWALLOW THIS!"

x

* * *

x

Bitch!

As the girl managed to push him back through her attack Cell hoped he could hold out long enough for him to annihilate Gohan first. So he poured more of his reserves into the attack against Gohan.

"This is where you END!"

x

x

"Aarrgh," Gohan said as he fell back onto one of his knees.

 _Hang in there Gohan,_ Goku's voice spoke into his mind, _you already have all the power you need, son._

"I can't, father," Gohan grunted, "I can't do this, I'm just a kid."

x

* * *

x

"He's really losing it," Goku said desperately in the afterlife, "I don't know what to say to motivate him any more."

"Let me," Belmovekk said.

x

* * *

x

 _Gohan,_ a new voice spoke in Gohan's mind, one that he recognized as Belmovekk's, _listen to me. Other then your physical injuries there is nothing wrong with you._

"But I can't do this," Gohan protested, "I just can't!"

 _So you are going to give up, just like that?_ Belmovekk's voice said incredulously, _You are going to let Cell win? Blow up your planet? Your friends? Your mother?_

x

* * *

x

In the Afterlife Belmovekk looked briefly at Goku.

"I am truly sorry for what I am about to say next, Goku," he said regretful, "Please forgive me."

x

* * *

x

"Father?" Gohan called out in despair, "Are you there?"

 _Your father no longer wants to talk with you,_ Belmovekk's voice said in a pitiful tone of voice.

"But….," Gohan tried to say.

 _If you will just give up your father will not ever speak to you again,_ Belmovekk's voice continued, _not here, or in the Afterlife. Or anywhere else for that matter. You are dead to him now._

"NO!" Gohan wailed.

 _So don't you dare give up,_ Belmovekk asked, _cause then you will get my Buffy killed as well. And frankly, you snotnosed punk, if she dies because of you, you wish you had been absorbed by Cell instead. So are you going to give up?_

"No," Gohan said after some thinking.

 _Good,_ Belmovekk said approvingly, _now listen up. Remember those bad people I talked about in my gym? The ones who try to manipulate things? The ones behind Cell?_

"Yes."

 _They are the ones why you doubt yourself. They fill your mind with reasons why you think you cannot win. Who cause you to doubt yourself. But it is only that, Son Gohan, feelings. They are afraid of you, of your incredible power. They want you to give up. Do not give them the satisfaction! If you must die, die on your feet, never on your knees! There is no shame in losing to a better opponent. But there is only shame in giving up. Make us proud. Make your father proud!_

 _Remember, any time you think you cannot win, that is not yourself talking, it's those bad people whispering to you!_

x

* * *

x

"That was brutal," Xander said softly in the Afterlife after Belmovekk had given his little speech.

"I am sorry, Goku," Belmovekk said as he turned to Goku, "I am truly so…."

SMACK

With a loud thud Goku planted his fist in Belmovekk's face, causing the Saiyan to land on his back.

"I guess I deserved that," Belmovekk said rubbing his jaw.

"That was for the awful things you said to Gohan," Goku said angry, then his scowl faded and he held out his hand, "And this is because I could never do what you just had too."

x

* * *

x

Damn those kids!

They were still managing to hold their own.

"IF YOU THINK THAT'S ALL I GOT YOU'RE WRONG!" Cell yelled. Then he poured just enough extra energy in his attack against Buffy to push her back to the centre, then he poured even more in his attack against Gohan.

As the saying went, it was good to be the one who still has energy in reserve.

"TIME TO DIE!"

x

* * *

x

"This is not going to work," Jamison said as he pointed to the fight in the distance, "They're being hard pressed to hold on for dear life, he on the other hand seems to have energy to spare."

"Soldier boy's right," Piccolo agreed, "They're losing, and sooner rather then later."

"We have to do something," Riley said adamant.

"If you have any ideas, I'm listening," Faith said calmly, "If not, please shut the hell up."

"You shut up, murderous bitch!" one of the soldiers said back.

"Make me," Faith said defiant. Upon which some of the soldiers gathered behind the one who had spoken.

"Please, everyone," Krillin said as he stepped in between, "This helps nobody."

"Then he shouldn't have called me that," Faith said as she pointed at the soldier.

"I call it as I see it," the soldier said back unrepentant.

"SHUT UP!"

Everybody looked around at Piccolo.

"I will not have you badmouth her while they are fighting for our future," Piccolo said pointing towards the battle, "They're fighting for our lives, the Earth. And all you people can do is drag up old history?"

"But….," the soldier tried to say but Piccolo's glare was enough to shut him.

"We've got to do something," Riley said, "We can't just let them die out there."

"There's nothing we can do," Yamcha said, "They're way out of our league right now.

As she watched on Faith knew exactly what Piccolo was going to do. Hell she had every intention of joining him.

Even though it was surely going to get them killed.

 _Faith._

What the hell?

Did she just hear something or someone call for her?

 _Faith._

As everybody kept bickering Faith turned around. That was a woman's voice she'd just heard. And aside from the still unconscious Android #18 she was the only woman present.

 _Faith._

As she looked around Faith suddenly saw an old woman, standing near a nearby rock wall.

"Who are you," she asked as she approached the old woman.

"Does it matter?" the old woman smiled.

"Uh, yeah?" Faith retorted.

"I'm a friend," the old woman said.

"Anyone can say they're a friend," Faith said back, "It's the actual being a friend that's the hard part."

"It's no secret that a friend is someone who lets you help," the old woman said.

"Yeah, and it's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else," Faith replied.

The old woman began to grin and revealed a perfect set of teeth.

"They say a secret is something you tell one other person," she grinned, "So I'm telling you…. child. My name is Priya and I'm the Saiyan Goddess of War."

To her credit Faith didn't bat an eye.

"Normally I'd say the crazy house is over there," Faith said and pointed to the general direction of where America was, "But we're too far away, and I don't think the locals have one either."

"Listen," the old woman claiming to be Priya said, "What your friends are planning will not work. Cell can only be distracted once."

x

* * *

x

"Then we are in agreement," Krillin said as he looked around, "We'll all try and attack Cell at once, hopefully buying Gohan and Buffy a chance to turn the tide. Is everybody okay with that?"

"Yeah."

"Sure thing."

"Even though we might not survive," Krillin stated, but again there was no dissent, "Good, then let's…."

Touching down from the sky Vegeta, still battered and bruised from his encounter with Cell landed next to them.

"Is there still room for one more?" the Saiyan prince asked, still in pain.

"You think you can squeeze one more out?" Piccolo asked.

"Try and stop me," Vegeta said determined.

"Then let's go," Piccolo said, then he looked around, "Faith, saddle u…. where's Faith? Where did she go?"

"I think she went down there," one of the soldiers said as he pointed in the valley below.

x

* * *

x

"ARE YOU FEELING IT?" Cell yelled as he kicked it up a notch, "THE WORLD'S END! EXHILERATING IS IT NOT?"

x

* * *

x

"I'd just settle for him to shut up," Buffy groaned as she battled to hold her position on Cell's onslaught, her feet slowly sliding backwards in the dirt.

x

* * *

x

"You knowz, I really likes you guys."

By now even the sporadic news reports from the FOX NEWS team had stopped completely but in Larry's bar nobody no longer cared, instead it was free drinks for everyone right now as the whole joint was shaking like a guitar string and anyone left was getting really juiced up.

"You knowz, for a Glo'bex demon youse two look kinda hot," Spike said drunkenly as he lustfully eyed the two demons next to him, his arms wrapped around their shoulders, "Nowz, is it true that you Glo'bex'es have only one sex?"

x

* * *

x

"I WILL BE THE UNIVERSE'S END!" Cell yelled in glee, "I WILL TRAVEL FROM ONE WORLD TO THE NEXT AND OBLITERATE EVERYTHI….."

"HEY!" a new voice yelled.

Floating not that far from Cell was Faith.

x

* * *

x

 _What the hell is she up to now,_ Buffy thought.

x

* * *

x

"She's up to something," Amūn said in the Afterlife.

"Yeah, getting herself killed," Xander said shaking her head.

x

* * *

x

"Do you want to play, little girl?" Cell sneered at Faith, "Shoo, go away, the grown ups are playing."

"William Shatner called," Faith said deadpan, "He demands that you cease and desist copying his routine."

"How droll," Cell chuckled, "Why don't you make me?"

Faith began to smirk.

"Oh, I will," she said, then she balled her fists and began to yell, "AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

x

* * *

x

"What's she doing?" Piccolo said worried, "Faith…."

"Dear Kami," Tien exclaimed, "Is she….."

"It looks like it, bro," Yamcha said, "She's transforming too."

x

* * *

x

"How are you liking this one?" Faith yelled as her eyes turned to a cold blue green and her hair began to stand up straight, then she raised her arms and yelled some more. And she exploded in a burst of golden energy.

x

* * *

x

"Faith?" Piccolo exclaimed surprised.

x

* * *

x

"Did she just go Super?" Xander said surprised as he looked at Belmovekk, then Goku, "Did you know she could do that? Did ya?"

"Don't look at me," Goku shrugged, "I'm just as surprised as you are."

x

* * *

x

"Fine," Cell shouted after she was finished transforming, "you're now a part of the Super Saiyan club too. What are you going to do? Bleed on me in a different color?"

"Oh," Faith smirked, "I'm going to do so much more then that. Guess what, when I helped B. to the next level I learned the trick as well."

Then she balled her fists again, looked up to the heavens and yelled again, her chi flames shooting up as her power increased even further.

x

* * *

x

"Dear Kami," Yamcha said as his jaw nearly dislocated itself dropping to the floor, "The second level too?"

x

* * *

x

"So, Cell, what do you think?" Faith said as she struck a seductive pose, electrical discharges arcing around her body, "Don't I look hot and smashing?"

"Bitch!" Cell groaned angrily.

"Yeah, I'd thought you'd like it," Faith grinned, then her face turned serious and she brought her right hand to her forehead, two extended fingers touching her forehead, "This is the end for you, my android friend. You're barely holding your own against those two, I don't think you can handle a third."

"You're bluffing," Cell snarled, causing Faith to laugh.

"Silly Cell," she laughed, "Always so full of it. We shall put that on your tombstone. Do I look like I'm bluffing?"

To illustrate her point energy began to flicker around her two extended fingers.

"Last time we fought I was a fake blonde, now I'm a real one," Faith grinned, "I wonder if its gonna make a difference?"

x

* * *

x

"How the hell did she manage to reach the second level?" Goku said flabbergasted, "Look to all the trouble Gohan had to go through to reach it. Or Buffy. And now…."

"It's your regular Super Saiyan inflation," Xander quipped.

"It does not matter," Belmovekk said, "It happened, we must deal with it."

"Don't you mean Cell's gonna deal with it?" Xander said.

Before anyone could say anything Amūn interjected.

"Let's be ready," the Goa'uld said as he patted Kaio Sama on the shoulder, then he looked at Goku and Belmovekk, "I think I know what she's up too."

x

* * *

x

"OH, CELL, BABY, YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS!" Faith yelled as her charged attack crackled with energy, "IT'S FULL OF CHOCOLATEY GOODNESS!"

x

* * *

x

"Hey, that's my line," Xander protested in the Afterlife.

x

* * *

x

"TIME TO DIE!" Faith yelled, then she aimed her charged attack at Cell, "MAKANKOSAPPO!"

A burgundy red energy attack with an another attack spiraling around it sped towards Cell.

"DAMN YOU BITCH!" Cell yelled. Then he braced himself for impact and inevitable defeat. Not even he could stand up to three of these second level Super Saiyans, or whatever the hell they were.

DOOM!

With a minor explosion Faith's Makankosappo petered out relatively harmless against Cell. Causing Cell to look at her weird.

"What the…."

x

* * *

x

"It's a ruse!" Krillin yelled back on the ridge, "It's ruse!"

x

* * *

x

 _Gohan,_ a voice spoke in Gohan's mind.

x

* * *

x

 _Do it now,_ Belmovekk's voice spoke in Buffy's, _while he's destracted!_

x

x

Taking advantage of Cell's momentary distraction both Gohan and Buffy poured in that extra ounce of willpower they still had left and pushed back. Cell had withdrawn some of his reserves to brace himself against Faith's attack and that had allowed them to push back the event horizons back to the centre. But now that he was distracted they pushed it all the way back and the two massive spheres of energy began to move.

"BITCH!" Cell yelled angrily at Faith, "I'LL KILL YOU FO….."

It was only then that he noticed that he allowed his attention to slip on his main fronts.

"NOOOOOO!"

Normally two smaller powers taking on a bigger power had no hope in winning as their attacks would come uncoordinated and separate. The most successful combined attack so far was the Ghostbuster Kamehameha. But it was incredibly hard to pull off, and required a combined approach from the start. Neither Buffy nor Gohan had coordinated their attacks, nor could they because if either would add their energy to the other attack they would get slammed by Cell's.

Unfortunately for Cell his own double Kamehameha was not really a double executed Kamehameha. Instead it was a single one that he had split up at the last moment, but which at its heart was still a single attack.

So when the two attacks finally hit home they ended up sort of merging into one big attack that slammed into Cell.

"GYAAAAAH!" Cell screamed as the combined attack hit home and sent him flying backwards.

"IM….POSSIBLE," Cell screamed as his body began to contort and twist under the attack's pressure.

"IT… CAN'T….BE…," Cell moaned as the attack began to vaporize his outer skin.

"I'm…. invincible," were the last words coming from him as more and more of Cell got consumed by the attack's gruesome power.

Then Cell's body lost all coherency as it began to breakdown into smaller and smaller parts that got consumed at a faster and faster rate.

And then, if there was to be a last word of sorts, it would have been 'poof' as his final cells, the ones that would allow him to regenerate, got vaporized as well.

x

* * *

x

"THEY DID IT!" Goku, Kaio Sama, Xander and Amūn yelled victoriously in the Afterlife, "CELL'S DEFEATED!"

Belmovekk however did not join in, instead he let himself fall on his ass and stared ahead blankly.

"It is done," he said softly, then he put his hand over his mouth as he began to choke up and felt his body shake and tremble.

"It is done."

x

* * *

x

With their last ounce of control Buffy and Gohan steered their now combined attack into space, where it would go on indefinitely until its power had dissipated. Then the two of them de-transformed and fell down to Earth.


	39. Chapter Twenty Four

**Chapter 24**

' **Exit Music (For a Film)'**

x

x

AN: _The final chapter. My my, what a journey it has been. Yet another rollercoaster. But all journeys come to an end and it's now time to wrap this one up as well._

x

green falcon: _Well, in canon DBZ Vegeta slipped into heavy depression, having lost his bitter rival and being surpassed. The 9th DBZ movie, which is about as close to DBZ canon as it had some involvement from Toriyama, had him spending his days watching TV. As for Faith, all the chains that were put in place have been broken. The only thing now holding her back is herself. This story has been posted elsewhere. For the most part on the Spacebattles forum, but I no longer frequent there. In full on Twisting the Hellmouth. Which also has the unfinished next part. But I will post that here next as well._

x

* * *

x

Uruzgan province, Afghanistan

x

"They did it!" Krillin said elated, "They did it!"

"It feels so..., anti-climactic," Yamcha said as he looked around, "I fully expect Cell to come back yet aga…. Hey!"

Before he could finish his sentence a dozen rocks and items of clothing were thrown at him.

"Just sayin'," Yamcha muttered aggrieved as the last item bounced off him, then he began to grin again, "You know, guys, I realized something."

"What?" Tien said weary, "That you haven't made a single gay joke since the start of the Cell Games?"

"Well, that too," Yamcha grinned and put his arm around Tien, "And believe me, once we make it back to civilization you will have to fight off the boy toys from San Francisco to Tokyo."

"Isn't that just empty ocean?" Krillin remarked, but Yamcha ignored him.

"Guys, we made it! We survived until the end and we didn't even die!"

"Except for Goku of course," Krillin said sadly, causing Yamcha to fall silent.

x

* * *

x

"They did it! They actually did it!" O'Neill yelled happily at the SGC as he pumped the air.

"Who would have thought they would?" Daniel said.

"Not me, that's for sure," O'Neill said and began to do a little victory dance before halting at Sam's workstation, "Carter, I'm so happy I could kiss you."

"Sir?" Sam said flabbergasted, then her eyes grew big as O'Neill actually made good on his words, "Sir…."

Meanwhile General Hammond sat down in a chair and let out a deep sigh.

"What's with the long face, general?" Daniel asked.

"Now comes the really hard part, son," General Hammond sighed.

"Like what?" Daniel asked the portly general.

"Now we have to explain things."

x

* * *

x

As she opened her eyes Buffy looked straight into Riley's face hovering over her.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty," Riley smiled at her.

"Am I dreaming?" Buffy asked.

"That depends," Riley said, then he began to grin, "Do you dream often of me?"

"Only in my nightmares," Buffy smiled back.

"Ouch," a soldier next to Riley said, "You've got served."

"How are you feeling?" Riley asked unperturbed.

"Oh, nothing special," Buffy groaned, "Just like I've been hit by a freight train."

"I've sparred with you," Riley chuckled, "That feels remarkably similar."

"Well, I'm obviously not getting much sympathy here," Buffy said, "Then how about a hand? I think I have at least half a dozen pointy pieces of rock in my back."

"You're asking me for help?" Riley said deadpan, "Me? The lowly soldier?"

"Gohan! That was amazing!" a shout came from the direction where Gohan had hit the dirt and his friends were lifting him up from the ground.

"Why does he get the cheerleading squad and I have to beg for the smallest piece of sympathy?" Buffy asked pointing to Gohan's general direction.

"Easy, they're civilians," Riley deadpanned, "We of course are military. Feeling sorry for yourself only earns you a midnight scrubbing."

Buffy shook her head dejected.

"Despite that gay ban the military couldn't be more gay even if they rode into battle using The Village People instead of that tad tadada da thing."

x

* * *

x

Sitting alone a little distant from the others Faith overlooked what used to be the battlefield and contemplated what just happened, when she felt somebody touch down behind her.

"What you did was incredibly brave," a voice spoke, upon which Faith turned around. It was one of the soldiers. The one who had called her murderous bitch.

"Had to be done," Faith shrugged.

"Yeah, I know that feeling," the soldier nodded, then his face turned serious, "I hated you, you know. I fought at the Battle of Sunnydale and my best friend died that day. And we could not revive him cause there wasn't anything left to revive. I know you had no part in that battle. But you did work for the Mayor so in our eyes that made you guilty by proxy."

"There's a point to this story?" Faith said, not annoyed, but also not very amused either.

The soldier looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"What I'm trying to say…, I…, Jeez, how can I put this?" the soldier said as he briefly looked away lost for words, "Despite the crap I said you came through. What you did took guts and now I feel like a complete ass. Those two may have blown Cell to kingdom come, but you made it possible. I wish to shake the hand of the bravest girl I've ever met."

The soldier extended his hand.

"Because I helped save the day and you now feel like an ass?" Faith asked, not taking the hand, but instead eying the soldier wearily.

"No," the soldier said shaking his head, "because you proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have changed as a person. Whoever you are now, you are not the girl you used to be. And I will follow you into Hell itself if you asked me too."

Faith thought that over for a moment, then she took the soldier's hand and shook it.

"Fair enough," she shrugged.

"Thanks," the soldier said, then he left, only to be replaced by Piccolo.

"I didn't know their approval mattered so much to you," Piccolo said.

"It doesn't," Faith shrugged, "But if it makes 'em happy, who am I to be a pain in the ass?"

"Oh, I think it does matter to you," Piccolo grinned, "Cause normally you live to be a pain in the ass. And usually it's my ass."

Faith put her hand on her cheek and pretended to be shocked.

"My, Jolly Green, I didn't know you even had an ass. I thought you were completely smooth down there."

Piccolo looked at her lost for words, made a brief strangling noise, then he rolled his eyes.

"I guess you're back to your old self," he finally said, then he grinned, "Nice ruse with that fake Super Saiyan ability. I get how you fooled Cell with the look, but how did you manage to make him think you suddenly had more then ten times your normal power?"

"That was easy," Faith grinned, "There was so much energy going around it was way to easy for Cell to forget to carry the zero. We all did."

"So how did you learn to do it?" Piccolo asked curious.

"Oh, some old lady showed me," Faith said matter of fact, causing Piccolo to look strangely at her, "What?"

x

* * *

x

As one after the other took off for the Lookout, that left only two people, Piccolo and Vegeta.

"Do you need help?" Piccolo asked. He was of course referring to Vegeta's still considerable wounds and abrasions.

Of course his smirk hinted at more then just concern.

"I didn't ask for your help," Vegeta grunted annoyed, "So leave me alone. I have no need for your pity."

Piccolo looked at Vegeta, then his smirk turned sardonic.

"Really?" he said. Then the Namek took off. Leaving a livid Vegeta behind.

As Piccolo disappeared in the distance Vegeta bowed his head and his anger disappeared like melting snow.

"I have been perfectly beaten," Vegeta said downcast, "By that asshole Kakarot and his son. And now by Summers as well."

Vegeta looked up, into the heavens.

He had indeed been perfectly beaten. Despite his additional year in the Room of Spirit and Time Kakarot had still come out the better of the two of them. Kakarot's son and Summers had now overtaken him by so much his earlier humiliation at not being the first new Super Saiyan seemed like child's play. And his own actions had gotten his son killed and almost lost them the battle against Cell.

Vegeta looked down again, at the giant craters that had marked the final battle.

He could even no longer take solace at the idea that if only he trained long and hard enough he still could overtake Kakarot and best him in battle, for death had now permanently wrested that option away from him.

"Damn you Kakarot," Vegeta said angry, "Why did you have to die like that?"

There was of course no answer. As always the dead kept their silence.

Until they were revived of course. Which in Kakarot's case was virtually impossible.

Then Vegeta took to the air and made his way back. To what really? His sorry excuse for a home?

"I will never fight again."

x

* * *

x

On a mountain side a rock began to move, then it slid further and fell down the mountain's slope. More rocks began to move, and then a hand appeared from underneath the rubble.

Then more body parts appeared, followed by the head of Bruce Schnitzengruber.

 _I'm alive,_ Bruce thought elated, _I'm alive! And in one piece!_

Taking a deep breath of sweet, sweet air Bruce felt like he was being reborn. Then he looked around.

While the place had changed considerably over the course of these accursed games Bruce recognized enough. There was the huge ass crater that used to be the ring. And there were the two other huge ass craters that marked the final battle.

But where was everybody?

Getting to his feet Bruce ran down the mountain and into the valley again, until he came to the site of the final battle.

Okay, this was where Cell had been shooting at the kid, Bruce thought as he stood at the edge of the giant hole in the ground, then he looked at the other big hole, and that's where the girl was.

Even from the ground Bruce could see the giant V shaped pattern, with two massive craters almost touching each other, like somebody had used a bigger marker to cross through the V.

Except on closer inspection it wasn't quite a V shape, Bruce discovered, more of a Y shape. As he looked at the base of the V shape another trail led away the opposite direction, thus creating the Y shape. Since Cell had stood at the base of the V shape he could only conclude that the two had pushed the attack back at him, which it then caused to create that other trail leading away. At the base of the Y he could even see the trench getting less deep, until it the point where it veered up.

Yeah, all things considering he had a pretty good idea what happened. It might even make for a good movie.

After they had beaten Cell (which was obvious otherwise he would be dead right now) these mysterious fighters must have left as mysteriously as they had come. Which was too bad because he really wanted to know who they were and thank…..

"BRUCE!" a voice yelled behind him.

It was the FOX NEWS reporter and his camera man who were running towards him.

"Bruce," the reporter said as he finally got near to him, "What happened? Where's Cell?"

There comes a moment in any man's life that is his defining moment. The moment he would look back to on his death bed and wish he had done things differently. Or was glad that he had done the right thing. Too bad the realization of that moment usually only comes after the fact. So before he even realized what he was saying Bruce's mouth was already talking.

"Oh, that guy," Bruce said derisively, "I defeated him. While they were busy doing their tricks and light balls, I snuck in and struck the killing blow."

"You did?!" the reporter said excited, then his face lit up and he spoke into his microphone, "There you have it people of Earth, our hero, Bruce Schnitzengruber, has defeated Cell after all!"

"Is that thing still on?" Bruce said shocked as he pointed at the microphone.

"Yeah," the camera man said and pointed to his satellite uplink pack, "The lights came back. It's just audio but we're live across the globe again.

Years of knowing how to attract the right kind of headlines and attention kicked in and Bruce immediately stood ten feet tall, looking proud and confident in his recent victory.

Underneath all that bravado however he was cringing inwardly.

 _Why did I say something like that? What was I thinking?_

x

* * *

x

"You know, that was not nice," Kaio Sama said in the Afterlife, as he straightened his sunglasses, "Taking the credit for what your kids did."

"I don't know," Goku shrugged casually, "All in all it seems like a nice ending."

"He's taking the credit for what you guys did!" Kaio Sama said incredulously, "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Hey, as long as everyone thinks he did it, my son will be able to grow up in peace," Goku said stoically.

"And to think they say you're the slow one," Xander grinned as he patted Goku on the back.

"I still think it's wrong," Kaio Sama said incensed.

Now that the battle was over everybody had let go of Kaio Sama. Goku sat down on Snake Way, legs dangling over the edge of the road. Belmovekk and the Goa'uld stood apart a few meters away, with Xander standing close to Kaio Sama.

"So what's going to happen?" Xander asked.

"You'll all be revived very shortly," Goku said as he looked down over the golden clouds hanging over Hell. Or at least a kind of Hell. Apparently it was kinda light on the boiling pitch and demons with pitchforks. Just not as nice a place where the good souls would go.

"I gathered the Dragonballs before the Cell Games," Goku continued, "They're at the Lookout. They'll take your bodies there and then you'll be alive again."

"But you did not leave a body," Xander said, "You teleported here. That would mean that…."

"I will not be resurrected," Goku said calmly.

"You almost sound cheerful about it," Xander asked, "Shouldn't you be all gung ho about it?"

"What's the point?" Goku shrugged, "I was already revived once before. I couldn't even return if I still had a body."

"But your kid, man, your kid! Don't you want to see him again?" Xander said with growing surprise, "If it were me I'd be so pissed off."

"Life's what's happening to you while you make plans," Goku shrugged again. Xander looked at Goku, wanted to say something, then he looked away and didn't. Sure, he could call the guy names like Forest Gump. But the man had sacrificed himself to save the planet. And that was just the one time Xander had been present. You had to respect that kind of bravery.

"It's not right," he finally said.

"That's what I keep saying," Kaio Sama added.

x

* * *

x

All of a sudden Android #18 opened her eyes.

She had not expected to ever open them again and yet here she was, staring at a very familiar skyline.

"What the…..," she muttered, then she noticed two small hands over her.

A pair of very small green hands.

She put her head up and saw that they belonged to a very small version of Piccolo.

"DENDE! RUN AWAY!" a voice yelled in the distance, "SHE'LL KILL YOU!"

It was the voice belonging to Yamcha, human male, friend of Goku, her database told her.

She was lying on a tiled floor of a giant structure, which judging by temperature and oxygen content of the air was somewhere high in the sky. Quite some distance away, next to several dead bodies, stood Yamcha. Looking quite..., agitated, for lack of a better word.

"No she won't," another voice said, which she recognized as Krillin's, standing near her feet, together with a pre-teen child which looked remarkably much like Goku's son Gohan. She then turned her head the other way and saw others. Most she didn't recognize, as they were soldiers, although she did recognize two of them. Buffy in a torn and battered bright blue and white suit and Faith. Dressed in leather of course. And without the blonde hair dye of last time they had met.

"Hiya, sleeping beauty," Faith smiled, then she tapped #18's leg, "In case you're wondering, you can keep the pants. Considering where they've been I don't want them back.

She was of course referring to the clothes which Android #18 wore, which had belonged to Faith, before they switched clothes back in that supermarket in Hawaii.

Faster then was humanly possible Android #18 got to her feet and assumed a fighting stance.

"What the hell is going on?!" she said nervously.

"Relax," Krillin said.

"You relax," Android #18 said snide, "I want answers."

A little taken aback the little fighter gave a brief recap of what had happened.

"So after Gohan and Buffy defeated Cell we took you to Kami's place," he concluded.

"Gohan _and_ Buffy?" #18 said flabbergasted as she looked at the both of them. Gohan she might consider, as he was a blank page in as far as her intelligence on him was, but Buffy, all she did remember of her performance against Cell was not very favorable. Lots of heart, but very little success.

"YEAH!" Yamcha yelled from way back near the edge of the Lookout, "THEY BECAME WAY STRONG! SO DON'T YOU DO ANYTHING FOOLISH."

"You must excuse Brainless over there," Faith said, "Now that it's all over his bravery suddenly went up."

"You two, defeated Cell?" Android #18 said slowly to Gohan and Buffy.

"We had some help," Buffy said, nodding her head towards Faith.

"Nah," Faith said as shook her head, "You guys did all the real work. I was just getting in the way."

"But not in ours," Buffy smiled, then she looked at Android #18, "Handy tip, next time you give yourself up for absorption to a crazy bio-droid, check his credentials first. Cell broke his promise to you faster then that Hitler guy did."

"I'll consider it," Android #18 said.

"You should really thank Krillin," Piccolo said, "He took care of you after Cell puked you out."

"Puke?" #18 said shocked.

"Now you know why I don't want those pants back," Faith added.

Android #18 looked at Krillin, who began to smile a goofy grin.

"It was nothing, really," he said nervously, "I couldn't just leave you…., anyone would have done it…"

Seeing his friend flounder Gohan looked oddly at Krillin, then his eyes grew big as saucers.

"I get it!" he said like he just had an epiphany, "Krillin likes Android #18!"

SMACK!

He had barely said when Krillin whacked Gohan on the back of his head.

"For the love of God, don't blurt it out like that," Krillin said with a face that was getting redder by the second.

The two Slayers looked at each other.

"You know, it makes sense now," Faith said.

"Yeah, it does," Buffy agreed, "He wants to have a happy with her."

"You're not serious," Yamcha exclaimed.

"But she's an android," Tien said flabbergasted.

Then all eyes turned to Android #18.

Who didn't look very pleased at all.

"She looks pissed," a soldier whispered, "He's so gonna get 'Dear Johnned' in person."

"Don't be an idiot," Android #18 finally said, sounding quite pissed, "What do you want me to do? Hold your hand?"

"Ouch!" somebody whispered.

Then Android #18 launched herself into the air, over the edge of the Lookout and then dove below.

"Brutal," a soldier said, "absolutely brutal."

"Arrogant bitch!" Yamcha said as he angrily balled his fist, "Somebody should give her a good asskicking!"

"Somehow I doubt it will be you though," Tien said smug.

"It's okay, Krillin," Gohan said cheerful, "If you need a friend, you still have all of us."

"Do me a favor," Krillin said completely dejected, "please shut up."

"Oh, poor thing," Faith said, then she and Buffy went to Krillin and put their arms around him to comfort him.

"Okay people," Piccolo said as he looked around, "Now that our injuries are healed our next priority is bringing the fallen back to life."

x

* * *

x

As Mr. Popo brought forth the Dragonballs, they then waited for a few minutes, then the final arrivals arrived as an Asgard transporter beam deposited General Hammond, SG-1, Giles, Joyce, the twins and of course Thor itself.

Then the Dragon was called.

x

* * *

x

While she had bailed from the Lookout with due haste, after that Android #18 lingered. She recognized the landmass below her as those of North America, somewhere near the Rocky Mountains. But positional data was the least of her problems now. She didn't exactly have a place to go to did she?

As she halted her descent Android #18 began to think things over. Her brother was gone. Still absorbed inside Cell and probably destroyed with him. She couldn't fault those do-gooders for having done so, if she had been in their position she would have done the same. But it still meant that #17 was gone.

Android #16 was also gone. Perished at the Cell Games. That left her as the sole Gero type android left in the world. And with Goku dead she was now free to do as she wished.

Within reason of course because she knew that if she went on a mad killing spree those do-gooders would come and murder her.

But what was she supposed to do? What good was having the world at your feet if you had no plans to make good of it?

As she pondered her new fate the skies around her suddenly darkened.

"What the….," she said flabbergasted, "Why did it suddenly get dark?"

Then she looked around, back at the Lookout.

To her surprise, and horror, a massive snakelike creature now hovered over the Lookout, dwarfing the Lookout with its own size.

"Wh-what is that?"

x

* * *

x

"This is not possible," Sam muttered as she watched a massive dragon come forth from the seven glowing Dragonballs, then hover above them.

"He begs to differ," O'Neill said and pointed upwards.

"I think Dende did more then just recreate him," Tien said impressed, "He looks bigger then ever."

"I think you're right," Buffy said.

"You've seen it before?" Faith asked her fellow Slayer.

"Once," Buffy said, not taking her eyes of the Dragon, "When we revived those who had died at the Battle of Sunnydale. But Belmo summoned him once before. After Ang….., I was out of town at the time."

"YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME," the mighty Dragon roared with a deep bassy voice, "YOU MAY ASK ME TWO WISHES."

"Hey, two wishes, it worked," Yamcha smiled at Dende, then he looked up, "Mighty Shenron, please, resurrect everyone who was killed by Cell."

"YOUR WISH WILL BE GRANTED."

x

* * *

x

As she watched from behind a pillar Android #18 saw to her amazement that the bodies of Trunks, Mayan, Xander, Belmovekk and the soldiers began to stir, then they began to gasp for air.

"Impossible," she muttered.

And yet it was possible as the dead began to sit up.

Trunks and Mayan immediately fell into each others arms and began to kiss. An older blonde woman did the same with the Saiyan Belmovekk, and Buffy and a red haired girl embraced Xander in an exuberant threeway hug. Meanwhile many of the soldiers greeted their former dead comrades. Some shouting things like welcome to the club.

x

* * *

x

"This is impossible," Sam again muttered, "This should not be possible."

"I see several dead who now live and breathe again who say otherwise," O'Neill chuckled, then he looked aside at Major Riley, "How come you're not surprised? You look like you've seen this before."

Major Riley said nothing but looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"You _have_ seen this before," O'Neill said, to which Riley responded by looking away.

Meanwhile Daniel spoke to General Hammond.

"General, you might want to warn the government that they could be experiencing a lot of people who were declared dead to be walking around again."

"Great," General Hammond sighed and reached for a cell phone, "Like we don't have enough things to explain already."

"I don't feel Goku's chi," Piccolo spoke up, "It's as we feared."

"YOU MAY MAKE ANOTHER WISH," the Dragon thundered, "STATE YOUR SECOND WISH."

"Testy fellow," O'Neill remarked.

"Isn't there any other way you can bring back Goku?" Yamcha asked the Dragon, "We would do anything to have him back alive."

"THAT CANNOT BE," the Dragon roared, "SON GOKU HAS DIED AND CAME BACK TO LIFE ONCE BEFORE. ASK ME ANOTHER WISH."

"I guess that means its over," Tien said.

"No," Krillin said as he shook his head, "There has to be a way. Some way for us to bring him back."

"Maybe we could use the second wish to go to New Namek?" Dende suggested, "Porunga has no limits on how often you can be resurrected."

"That's a great idea, Dende," Krillin said excited, "Let's do tha….."

 _Hey guys, listen up,_ a voice spoke into the minds of everyone present at the Lookout.

"Goku?" Krillin said as he looked up.

 _It's me, Goku,_ the voice continued, _I am speaking to you from the Afterlife. Here me out._

 _Bulma once told me that I attract bad guys. And I've come to think that she's kinda right. I do attract these bad guys. Without me Gero would never have built Cell. I've talked this over with Belmovekk and I have come to the conclusion that Earth will have a better shot at peace if I'm not around. The Lord of Worlds agrees with me._

x

* * *

x

Just moments before, in the Afterlife

x

Standing up from his ringside seat on Snake Way Goku went to Belmovekk.

"We have to talk," he said.

"So talk?" Belmovekk replied.

"No, in private," Goku said and nodded to Snake Way.

"Fine," Belmovekk said and the two Saiyans hopped until the others were just a tiny spot on the road.

"What do you want to talk about," Belmovekk asked.

"No, not talk," Goku said, then he reached out and put his hand on Belmovekk's forehead.

 _Like this,_ the Saiyan thought telepathically, _I don't want those Powers of yours to listen._

 _Good thinking,_ Belmovekk replied.

 _Soon they will revive us,_ Goku thought, _well, you guys at least. I've had my shot. But I know my friends, they will not give up so easily. I'm afraid that they will find a way to bring my back._

 _Do you not wish to return,_ Belmovekk thought surprised.

 _There's a difference between wishing to return, and knowing you shouldn't,_ Goku replied.

 _I am listening,_ Belmovekk thought.

 _Those Powers of yours used Cell to strike at me and my loved ones,_ Goku thought, _Clearly they think of me as the main way to strike at Earth._

 _They have tried other ways in the past,_ Belmovekk countered but Goku wasn't convinced.

 _I cannot risk that happening again. I have to think of my family first._

 _I do not follow you,_ Belmovekk answered.

 _As long as I'm around the Powers will use that to find some enemy of mine to come to Earth and tear it apart,_ Goku thought, _as long as I'm around my family will never know peace._

 _That will not stop them,_ Belmovekk countered, _they know that it is my mission to stop them._

 _Yeah,_ Goku agreed, _but then they would go after you. At least my family will be safe._

 _So you wish that I must carry the burden instead,_ Belmovekk thought, _is that not selfish?_

 _It is your war,_ Goku thought.

 _It is your planet,_ Belmovekk thought back.

 _The others will help you,_ Goku thought, _then he put his other hand on Belmovekk's shoulder, please, I beg you, let Gohan enjoy some peace for now. Let him be the scholar he wants to be. Your friend, Xander, he once said that your destinies reward those who played their part. Let Gohan walk away now that he has played his part.  
_

Belmovekk thought hard about it, then he looked away.

 _I will do as you ask._

x

* * *

x

The present

x

 _But hey guys,_ Goku's voice spoke cheerful, _don't think of me as a martyr. They're gonna give me the special treatment because I saved the Earth so many times. Other people and bad guys like Cell get turned into spirits. I get to keep my own body, and I won't age. So it's no big loss._

 _Kaio Sama tells me I get to meet all the great martial artists from the past who were also allowed to keep their own body. So I'm going to have a fun time. And since Kaio Sama just got resurrected as well he's no longer mad at me anymore._

 _I am sorry son… and tell your mother I'm sorry. But please don't bring me back to life, okay? I want you to look after your mother, and to my friends, look after Gohan will you? He's a way better person then I ever was._

"No, I'm not, father," Gohan spoke up mournfully. As soon as he said it he felt an arm on his shoulder and looked into Faith's smiling face.

"Yes you are, little brother," she smiled.

 _So that's it,_ Goku's voice spoke, _Kaio Sama has given Belmovekk permission to come see me once a year, and he can bring you and your mother along. So I will still be able to see you from time to time. And to the rest, have a good life. We'll see each other again when you all die. Which hopefully won't happen for many, many years._

 _BYE BYE!_

x

* * *

x

 _What the fuck was that,_ Android #18 thought bewildered, having heard everything as well.

x

x

"For a dead guy he sure sounds happy," Krillin said saddened.

"Just another adventure," Piccolo shrugged.

"AHUM," a voice thundered impatiently, "I AM STILL WAITING FOR THAT SECOND WISH. FOR QUITE SOME TIME IN FACT."

"Testy fellow," O'Neill said.

"WELL, ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE A SECOND WISH?" the Dragon asked impatiently, "OR IS ONE WISH ALL THAT YOU DESIRE?"

"Now, what do we do?" Piccolo asked around, "Anyone have any ideas? Quickly, before Shenron calls it quits?"

"Uh, I know this girl in Encino and she wants me to give her a very expensive diamond necklace," Yamcha said sheepishly.

"There will be no frivolous wishes," Piccolo said frowning.

"I have one," Xander said as he stepped forward, "Mighty Dragon, can you restore my friend, Angela Henderson back to her old self?"

The Dragon didn't reply for a moment, then he spoke.

"I CAN NOT. MY POWERS CANNOT AFFECT CREATURES OF HER STRENGTH AGAINST HER WILL."

"What?" Xander said horrified, "She doesn't want to come back?"

"THE BEAST INSIDE HER AND SHE ARE NOW FUSED AS ONE. THEY ARE…, TOO STRONG FOR ME," the Dragon said regretful, "I AM SORRY. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER WISH?"

"I'm sorry Xander," Willow said and put her hand and Xander's slumping shoulder, "We'll find a way."

Xander didn't respond, instead he just slumped some more.

Meanwhile SG-1 was debating amongst itself feverishly.

"Anyone, quickly," O'Neill said hurried, "Do we have a wish for that thing?"

"Maybe it can restore both the Prometheus and the Enterprise for us?" Sam suggested.

"Good one," O'Neill said and turned around to face the Dragon. But before he could speak Krillin beat him too it.

"Shenlong, can you turn Androids #17 and #18 into real people again?" he asked.

"Damn!" O'Neill muttered.

"I CANNOT," the Dragon stated regretful, "ANDROID #17 DID NOT RETURN BACK TO LIFE AS THERE WAS NO BODY TO REVIVE. AND ANDROID #18'S POWER IS BOTH TOO GREAT AND TOO STRANGE FOR ME TO AFFECT."

x

* * *

x

"#17 is dead?" Android #18 said shocked. She had thought he was dead but now the dragon confirmed it. Her brother was really dead.

x

* * *

x

"Shoot! It didn't work," Krillin said dejected.

"Dude, why #17 too?" Yamcha said surprised.

"So Android #17 didn't return either," Piccolo said, "Too bad. So many people are still dead out there."

"I have a…," O'Neill tried to say but Krillin again beat him too it.

"Shenlon, could you at least do this? Take the bomb out of #18's body?"

x

* * *

x

 _What is that idiot up too,_ Android #18 thought.

x

* * *

x

"THAT IS POSSIBLE," the Dragon replied, "POWER DOES NOT FACTOR INTO THAT, NOR DOES IT CHANGE THE NATURE OF HER EXISTENCE. IT IS DONE. THE BOMB IS NO MORE. FAREWELL."

WOOSH!

As the Dragon disappeared the seven Dragonballs scattered into seven directions and the darkness over the Lookout was lifted.

"It is that I made recordings of this," Thor said flabbergasted, "Or else I would not be believed back home."

"Krillin," Trunks asked curious, "Why did you ask for such a wish?"

"Well, because I thought it was very sad to have a bomb inside your body."

"Aw, isn't that nice," Willow and Buffy said as they gathered around Krillin, "You're such a nice guy. We're going to help you get a girlfriend you know."

"YES!" Yamcha said excited, "Now you're in the zone, Krillin, when you've got chicks helping you, you're sure to get a girlfriend."

x

* * *

x

Behind her pillar Android #18 contemplated what she had just heard.

x

* * *

x

"And to think we could have had both the Enterprise and the Prometheus back in order," O'Neill said as he shook his head dejected.

"We'll fix the Prometheus ourselves, sir," Sam said trying to sound cheerful, "A little elbow grease never hurt anyone. We still have one Ha'tak, and there's a few more ships on the way as well. We'll manage."

"Besides, we could always ask for their help if things became really bad," Daniel said, earning him a dirty look from O'Neill.

"You just had to say it, didn't you," the colonel said frowning.

Meanwhile Krillin turned to Yamcha.

"I'm sorry your new girl doesn't get a new necklace," he said in earnest.

"Are you kidding," Yamcha laughed just a little too enthusiastically, "Couldn't you tell I was joking? You don't think I would use Shenlong for something as stupid as that now did you?"

"Oh, I _so_ think you would," Faith said deadpan.

"I don't understand one thing though," Tien asked, "I thought you 'liked' #18. Why wish for #17 to be human as well?"

"Well," Krillin laughed, "I do like her a lot. But don't you guys think she and #17 would go way better together?"

"Oh, he is just too nice for his own good," Willow said at Buffy.

"This looks like that romance stuff," Piccolo muttered softly under his breath, "I don't get it. Never did, never will."

"HEY!" a new voice said angry, and everybody turned their heads.

It was Android #18.

"Hey moron," she said angrily, "Just so you know, #17 and I were twins."

"What is she doing here?" Yamcha whispered softly as he took three steps backwards.

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea," #18 continued, "Oh, and I'm not going to thank you for taking out that bomb, chrome dome."

She then turned around. But just as she appeared to be taking off again she turned her head again.

"See you later," she said, then she walked away towards the edge.

"Did you hear that!" Yamcha said excited towards Krillin, "You're so still in the zone."

"For once I think pretty boy's right," Buffy echoed, "But you have to play your cards right."

"I have cards?" Krillin said flabbergasted.

"Of course, you're gonna have some competition, bro," Yamcha grinned impishly, "She might be a monster, but she's a hot mons…."

SLAP!

"Stay out of it," Buffy said after she had slapped Yamcha in the face, "For once in your life be a friend, not a douche."

"Nope," Piccolo said as he turned away and shook his head, "I don't understand this. Nor do I wish to understand it."

"So what are we going to do now?" Willow said as she looked around.

"We get on with our lives," Buffy said with a big smile on her face, "We're going to college!"

x

* * *

x

She had almost made it to the edge of the Lookout when somebody stepped in front of Android #18.

"Where do you think you're going?" Xander said as he barred her way.

"Preferably as far away from here as possible," #18 said annoyed, "Get out of my way."

"Oh no you don't," Xander said as he shook his head, "There is still one thing left to do."

"And that is?" she asked.

"We're gonna throw a big ass party," Xander said with a big goofy grin on his face, then he placed his arm over her shoulder and steered her back towards the others, "We're going to party like it's 1999 again. There's going to be food, there's going to be good music, and we're going to drink ourselves stupid until Piccolo starts looking hot!"

"But you have none of that," Android #18 protested.

"Oh no?" Xander winked, then he pointed his free arm at Belmovekk, "What does the keg master say about that?"

Belmovekk began to smile, stepped aside and revealed a large stack of beer kegs.

"Oh really?" Joyce said as she wearily eyed her husband. Who then hastily reached behind him and revealed a bottle of mineral water for himself.

"I'm sure that our good friends from the army, and marines of course, still have some good tunes for us," Xander said and looked at Riley, "What does DJ Finn have to say to that?"

"I think we might still have a ghetto blaster up here somewhere," Riley grinned.

"So we have two good ingredients for a killer hootenanny, chock ful of hoot, easy on the nanny," Xander said, "Can we have some food?"

"I still have plenty left," Mr. Popo volunteered.

"That takes care of the food," Xander said as he now put his free arm around Faith, "Now we only need the special ingredient for a killer party."

"Which is?" Faith asked as she began to smile, upon which Xander looked at her, then at Android #18.

"Hot women of course!"

x

* * *

x

 _Living easy, living free_

 _Season ticket on a one-way ride_

 _Asking nothing, leave me be_

 _Taking everything in my stride_

 _Don't need reason, don't need rhyme_

 _Ain't nothing I would rather do_

 _Going down, party time_

 _My friends are gonna be there too_

 _I'm on the highway to hell_

 _Highway to hell_

 _I'm on the highway to hell_

 _On the highway to hell_

A long line of soldiers, and a few Z-fighters and Scoobies too for that matter, were singing along as they were doing a conga line to the beat of AC/DC's Highway to hell.

Elsewhere steaks were sizzling on a barbecue and beer got being dispensed.

Even the oddest guest of honor hadn't made off as Android #18 sat close by a fire somebody had lit, a little ill at ease with a glass of beer in her hands. Still, she hadn't run off, that was for sure.

From a distance Piccolo watched on. And smiled.

"Gee, I never figured you as a party animal," a voice said behind him.

"Shouldn't you be right at the center, Faith?" Piccolo said without looking back, "With your legs wide and some soldier in between?"

"Nah," Faith said dismissively as she joined his side, "These guys know me too well. We're cool now, but there's still too much history. As far as I'm concerned this party still has too much nanny and not enough hoot."

"Sometimes I don't understand a word of what you're saying," Piccolo said shaking his head.

"That's okay," Faith smiled, "So do I."

For a moment neither said anything.

"Look," Faith said and pointed towards Xander as he sat down Krillin next to #18, "I think he's trying to hitch up Krillin with the android again."

"You're asking me?" Piccolo said with a polite snort, "You do know I'm no expert in these things, right?"

"They'll get there," Faith continued, "She's skittish, but I do think she likes him."

"She's an android," Piccolo countered.

"She's also a woman," Faith countered back.

"Whatever," Piccolo shrugged.

"And look at Yamcha," Faith chuckled as she pointed at Yamcha, who was hovering over Willow, "Now that he learned that she's a lesbian he seems to have taken that as a personal insult. Or challenge."

"You do realize I care none for that romance stuff, do you?" Piccolo growled.

"Fine, whatever" Faith sighed, then she took a swig from her glass of beer, "It's strange though."

For a moment Piccolo tried silence, but then he remembered that when she was in a talkative mood like this the best course of action was to let her talk and occasionally say something encouragingly. The faster it was over, the better.

"What?" he said.

"For years you guys prepared for this. I prepared for this as well. And now that its over I realize its really over. Now that it's over I feel both relieved and sad alike. It's good that nobody is dying anymore, but I'm going to miss the excitement, the friendship, the feeling of togetherness, belonging."

"It's far from over, Faith," Piccolo said, "Remember what Belmovekk told us?"

"Yeah, but that is still far in the future," Faith said dismissively, "I'm more of a slay in the now girl. So, what are you going to do, Jolly Green?"

"I think I will stay here," Piccolo said, "The part of me that was once Kami prefers it here. And for many years I did try to take this place from him. I might as well fulfill that ambition. Besides, Dende could use some help. He's still young."

"You can say that again," Faith as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea, "A god who's younger then me. Can you believe it?"

"So, what about you, Faith?" Piccolo asked her, "Back to Sunnydale?"

"I dunno," Faith shrugged uncertain, "Maybe, maybe not."

"You're welcome to stay," Piccolo offered, but she immediately shook her head.

"Nooooooo! This place is too cerebral for good old me! And way too close to that godawful room. Maybe I'll go to Sunnydale after all. I have to catch up with B. you know. She's gotten way too far ahead of me now."

"And how do you feel about that?" Piccolo said as he looked at her.

"You know, I'm cool with that," Faith said after some thinking, "I wanna catch up with her, but….., in my own time. I think the rivalry is finally over."

Piccolo eyed her wearily for a moment, then he smiled.

"I'm proud of you, Faith, you're finally growing up."

"Besides, I think I have a good idea how she did it," Faith said as a big grin spread on her face, causing Piccolo to shook his head in dejection. Then he sighed.

"And _there_ goes the moment."

Then the music suddenly halted and Xander took center stage again.

"I just realized something," Xander said as he addressed the gathered crowd, "Back in the 'Dale we have a tradition. You save the day, you get a victory lap of honor."

"I'll give you a victory lap," one of the soldiers yelled and took off his shirt, "A victory lapdance!"

"Let the record show that I say, ew?" Xander said pretending to be grossed out, then he turned to Riley, "Major Finn, will you do me the honors?"

"I sure will, Mr. Harris," Riley replied, then the two of them hoisted Buffy on their shoulders and began to carry her around as people began to hoot and cheer.

"We can do that too," Yamcha said and made a formal bow to Tien, "Shall we, good sir?"

"We most certainly can, my good fellow," Tien said and the both of them hoisted Gohan on their shoulders and followed suit in the victory round.

"Look at them go," Faith smiled, "I'm glad that I'm not…., hey!"

Before she knew it Piccolo grabbed her by her waist and put her on his shoulder, then he walked towards the others.

"No, put me down!"

x

* * *

x

"Exuberant bunch, aren't they," O'Neill said as he sat down next to Giles while the crazy parade went on.

"You have no idea," Giles sighed with a big smile on his face as he watched the three being carried around.

"You want to hear something really funny," O'Neill said as he leaned over.

"I might," Giles replied, upon which O'Neill continued.

"That idiot, Bruce, who claims to have 'defeated' Cell? Well, it would seem that people are lapping it up. They're throwing victory celebrations in his honor all over the world. If he plays his cards right Mr. Schnitzengruber may end up even more wealthy and famous then before."

"I told you you shouldn't kill him," Giles said smiling.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that," O'Neill said a little wistful, "Never miss an opportunity to say I told you so, right? Naturally we're going to play along. Give him the big tickertape parade in New York. Anything to take the public's attention off you guys and all the other unexplainable things. And while it pains me to be part of this charade, I have to admit that this opportunity is too good to miss."

"Of course it is," Giles smiled, "It was fated that way."

"Don't give me that fate crap, doctor," O'Neill said a little testy, "I don't believe in that bullshit."

"Believe what you want," Giles said, "I know that those Necessities use him as a scapegoat. They don't want the public's attention on us any more then you do. This is what he's meant to do. It's probably the sole reason why he was born in the first place."

"Yeah right," O'Neill snorted incredulously, "These Necessities couldn't give us any clues how to beat Cell, but planting a patsy, that they could do?"

"Even if you don't know what will happen beyond a certain point doesn't mean you shouldn't plan for it," Giles shrugged.

"Yeah," O'Neill said and patted Giles on the shoulder, "I think I'll send Daniel your way because if we continue this conversation I might end up doing a swan's dive over the edge."

x

* * *

x

Staring into his glass of mineral water Belmovekk kept a bit aloof from the party, then he looked up and saw Buffy and Joyce come up to him.

"My two favorite women," he said as he put on a weak smile.

"Come," Joyce said as she extended her arm, "Let's dance."

"I am not in a dancing mood," Belmovekk said as he shook his head.

"Then come sit with me," Joyce said, "Together with the kids. Look, they're dancing."

Belmovekk turned his head and saw his two daughters dancing amidst the others.

"You go ahead," he said, "I will be there shortly."

"Why," Joyce asked a little worried, "Is something wrong? Is it something you want to talk about?"

"I am fine," Belmovekk said as he shook his head, "I just need to think things over."

Joyce looked at him for a moment, debating herself whether or not she should press the issue. Then she looked at her daughter.

"You go and talk some sense into him," she said and turned around.

"Why you?" Belmovekk asked as he watched Joyce return to the party.

"Gee," Buffy said a little sarcastically, "Maybe because by now it's obvious to just about everybody that we have this 'thing' going between us?"

Belmovekk looked at her briefly, then he gave her a nod of approval.

"I guess you're right, young lady," he said and took a sip from his mineral water.

"So what's with the grim?" Buffy asked, "Why Broodfest 2001? We've beaten Cell. It's over! We've won!"

"We won _a_ battle, young lady," Belmovekk said, "The war is far from won."

"Leave it up to you to completely kill the mood," Buffy muttered, "So, Buzz Killington, are you suffering from post-natal battle depression, or are you just pissed that you missed the grand finale?"

Belmovekk looked away, over the edge of the Lookout.

"When we were in the Afterlife we could see everything through Kaio Sama," Belmovekk said peeking out over the cloud covers, "I saw you ascend and go Super. Just as I hoped you would."

"Yeah," Buffy said, "about that, you and me are going to have some serious discussion about that."

"I suppose you would," Belmovekk shrugged, "As I said, we saw everything from up there. Me, Kaio Sama, Goku, Xander, Amūn."

It took a while before the implications of what he said sunk into Buffy.

"What a sec," she said, "Are you telling me that your imaginary boyfriend was up there with you?"

"Not right away," Belmovekk said straight faced, "But then he clawed himself out of Hell."

"Must have been a weird sight," Buffy remarked.

"You have no idea," Belmovekk said, then he turned his head and looked at her, "When the Dragon restored me it did not bring him back with me. I have not felt his presence since my return. I think he is gone. Really gone this time."

"And this is bad in what way?" Buffy said, "I thought you wanted to get rid of him years ago?"

"I thought so too," Belmovekk said as he looked away again, "But now I feel strangely…., empty? It is funny how you can get used to someone you despise. And then miss him when he's gone."

"I….., uh," Buffy tried to say, then she put her hands in the air, "I give up. This is officially the craziest you have ever been. This is Wigfest 2001. Cell could return as the lead singer of a heavy metal hair band with the Mayor on guitar and the Master on drums and I would not feel this wigged out as I do now. Now get on your feet, march back to that party and dance with mom. You remember mom, right? The woman who is crazy enough to put up with your crazyness? No more moping around because you miss your imaginary boyfriend. Go! Before I make you go. And you know I can do it now. Don't make me go to the Second level to prove it."

Still dressed in his damaged but recognizable US Army uniform Belmovekk rose up, stood to attention and gave her a salute.

"Sir yes sir!" he shouted, then he turned about and marched in perfect military form back to the party, leaving Buffy behind as she shook her head.

"Showoff!"

x

* * *

x

 _Z-FIGHTER/SCOOBY ALLIANCE DEFEATS CELL_

 _After a particularly tense battle on the planet Earth, the evil entity called Cell was defeated by the Z-fighter/Scooby alliance._

 _After the evil entity had managed to attain his perfect form it had returned to Earth and declared on international TV that a tournament was to be held in his honor. Anyone was free to enter. The prize to win? The survival of Earth and its people itself. When asked about his threat to destroy Earth Cell said: A new beginning requires that one must say goodbye to one's old life. And what greater way to start a new beginning than with a big bang?_

 _Aside from the Z-fighter/Scooby alliance a few others chose to enter the Cell Games, including a washed up movie star seeking to rekindle his failing career. The armed forces of Earth also send a sizeable contribution. The Asgard sent an observer mission led by the fabled Asgard high commander Thor itself. Rumors have it that Anubis himself would probably have come as well if he wasn't suffering from yet another fatal case of death._

 _In a not so tense battle Cell quickly disposed of action hero movie star Bruce Schnitzengruber on international TV. But thanks to careful bullshitting Bruce managed to convince everybody he was still in the race._

 _Next came the Saiyan Belmovekk, disciple of the God Aldur and self-professed enemy of the Powers that Be. Who didn't put up any defense to speak off and instead sought to get himself killed for no obvious reason other then to force his adopted daughter, the Slayer Buffy Summers, to ascend to a new level of power, previously only thought to be within reach of Saiyans. Unfortunately for the disciple of Aldur he failed miserably as Cell only used him as a punching bag instead._

 _Then came what many thought would be the main match, Cell versus the Saiyan Goku. Goku, who had grown up on Earth thinking he was human, put up a great performance, forcing Cell to dig deep within himself. But ultimately he failed to defeat Cell._

 _Then came the real surprise as Goku pushed his son forward as his successor. Claiming his son had immense powers Goku stepped out of the ring and allowed his son to be molested by Cell as the evil entity, hungry for a true challenge, sought out those powers. Stating that having great power means nothing without a true test of those powers Cell tried various methods to bring forth the release of Gohan's hidden power. When it did happen however it proved to be one power too far for the nefarious biological construct._

 _Using self destruct the ominous cyborg tried to turn the tables but found himself outmatched by Goku who used his patented teleport technique to transport both himself and Cell to a dimension called 'the Afterlife' where resides a dubious being who calls himself Kaio Sama, or Lord of Worlds. Suffice to say even this so-called Lord of Worlds proved unable to withstand a blast capable of destroying a planet._

 _Somehow however Cell managed to survive his destruction, an agent of the Powers that Be was rumored to be involved, and return to Earth. There he killed Vegeta's future son, Belmovekk's future daughter and the disciple of Aldur itself. The very act causing his adopted daughter, the Slayer Buffy Summers, to go berserk and ascend to that fabled level of power that seemed only reachable to Saiyans. Out of rashness and anger she and Vegeta then assailed the nefarious construct, and got Gohan severely injured and notorious do-gooder and destroyer of prophecies Xander Harris killed. An act which tilted the grieve stricken Slayer to the next level of power._

 _Stating he had enough of this planet and felt it had to make way for other plans the nebulous creature prepared to unleash an attack big enough to destroy an entire solar system. The injured Gohan and the newly double ascended Buffy fought him to a standstill and with the aid of fellow Slayer Faith they were able to defeat Cell once and for all._

 _While the victorious Z-fighters and Scoobies then proceeded to revive their dead, movie star Bruce Schnitzengruber then claimed to a surprised world that he in fact had killed Cell and that the US military had disposed of his body. All too eager to hide their involvement with the winning alliance and their Stargate program the US military conspired to present Bruce's lies as truth._

 _In a final surprise development Goku announced his refusal to return from the dead and instead announced his retirement. When asked the hero stated that while he was more then willing to defend Earth, his presence seems to draw in ever greater dangers to said planet._

"Damn you, Saiyans!" a man said angry as he put down his newspaper on the table of the 50's style dinner that he was in, "Bastards! Bastards!"

"We've been thwarted yet again," a second man said, sitting by the same table, together with two others.

"He was such a good prospect," the third one said, a woman, "Far better then Wilkins, Anubis or Adam. We will be hard pressed to find another one like him."

A fifth person, another man, came by the table and sat down.

"I spoke with the Others," he said, "They suspect that the Renegade Priya was involved."

"That bitch!" the first man said, "They should really do something about the renegade witch. Why does she get to break the rules?"

"That will be hard though," the fourth person said, "She ascended under different conditions then we did. Her fate is not bound to ours. There might have been divine involvement. Either way she is not like Oma Desala, she can move around undetected."

"We're going about it the wrong way," the fifth man said, "We all knew Cell was going to be unstable. Like Adam he was loath to accept our oversight. He was a loose cannon."

"We didn't need oversight," the first man said, "All we needed was for Cell, or anyone else for that matter, to blow up Earth. Cell was our best prospect for that. What happens after Earth was destroyed was of no consequences."

"The Others might think different," the fifth man said and looked over his shoulders at others in the dinner, "They might take offense to a loose cannon blowing up planets all over the Galaxy."

"They don't seem to be particularly worried about Anubis," the second man said.

"Anubis is a pussy," the third one, the woman said, "This is like the third time he's been defeated. He's become a joke, both in this plane and below."

"What about the Beast?" the fourth man posed, "She is rumored to be back on Earth, looking for the Key."

"Nah," the third one, the woman countered, "While she has some interesting mind altering abilities, she is no match for them. Even the dark Slayer could eat her for breakfast."

"She is still a God," the fourth man stated, "Her power can be bottomless."

"But it is bound in mortal flesh," the woman said back, "She can never truly profit from her power whilst encased in mortal flesh. And if that flesh were to die, so should she."

"She also wants to open the borders between dimensions just so she can return to her own," the second man said, "She might be too much for the Others to handle.

"Well, on the upside she's not interested in blowing up every planet in the universe either," the fourth man said.

"Maybe we are going about this the wrong way," the first man said.

"What do you mean?" the third one, the woman asked.

"Maybe Na'toth was right when we tried to use Adam," the first man said as he pointed at the fifth man, "Maybe we gave up too soon after Adam's failure. Instead of going for a doomsday weapon we should use smart weaponry instead to take out the real obstacles."

"We tried that before, it didn't work," the third one, the woman said, "it failed, remember?"

"So did Cell," the first man said and leaned over, "If we can kill the Slayers and the Saiyan we make it way more easy for ourselves to destroy Earth. There are plenty of others who can do it and who pose little threat to the Others."

"We would have to start from scratch again," the second man said.

"We've done it before," the man who was once known as Namath and who was now the leader of the Powers that Be said, "We can do so again."

x

* * *

x

"And here comes the president of the United States with our great hero, Bruce Schnitzengruber," the voice of the TV news anchorman spoke on the television as the President and Bruce could be seen striding across the red carpet to the waiting members of the press.

"Gentlemen and ladies of the press," the president said as he gestured towards Bruce, "I give you, our hero, savior of the Earth and latest recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Bruce Schnitzengruber!"

A loud applause followed, followed by the countless clicking of cameras.

"Turn that off, I've seen enough."

The junior warrant officer in the Sunnydale military base mess hall did as was required and switched the television off.

"Good," Major Jamison said, "I can't stand that phony. Him getting the PMF is a god damn insult to anyone who ever earned one."

"Now now," Riley chuckled, "Remember, he's just getting one for show."

"It's still an actual Presidential Medal of Freedom," Jamison snorted.

"It is as it is," Riley shrugged, "How do I look?"

"Here," Jamison said as he made some final adjustments to Riley's dress uniform, "I hate these things."

"Think of it as your big chance to show us Army pukes that you Marines actually know how to dress," Riley grinned.

"Ha ha, very funny," Jamison said not very amused, "Well, shall we join the others? Can't let the Vice-President wait forever."

x

* * *

x

The Sunnydale military base had a large secluded square which aside from parades was also used as part of the chi training program. But today was not such a day. Today the Vice President of the United States was on the base. In secret, as there were no cameras or journalists present. And that was just the way everybody present liked it.

In a scene reminiscent of the Star Wars post-Death Star assault medal ceremony, but without the epic John Williams music, no matter how much a certain Xander Harris had pleaded for it, the heroes of the Cell Games, the real heroes, were being honored.

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States, it hereby pleases me to offer you, on behalf of the President, Congress and the people of the United States the Medal of Honor," the Vice-President said and pinned yet another medal on yet another soldier's chest. Who then saluted the Vice-President.

With General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill in attendance the Vice-President moved to the next recipient.

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States, it hereby pleases me to offer you, on behalf of the President, Congress and the people of the United States the Medal of Honor."

After the soldiers had gotten their medals it was the turn for the civilians. But not all of them were present. Tien had already left, said his farewells even as he didn't plan to return. Piccolo of course did plan to return. Often in fact. But he just didn't want to be part of what he called a useless award ceremony when real awards were something you carried in your heart. Android #18 wasn't present either, her having disappeared off the radar after the party on the Lookout. And then there was Vegeta off course, who wouldn't have come regardless anyway, but seemed currently too busy doing nothing but brood in his room and watch soap operas all day.

Trunks and Mayan were however still present. They had delayed their departure back to their future just for this ceremony. Well, that was the official excuse. The real reason of course was that they wanted some final quality time with their family.

Trunks was going to be the first recipient, getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom as he was not military and as such was not not eligible for the Medal of Honor. Of course the Presidential Medal of Freedom was the highest medal a civilian could get in the US and the civilian counterpart to the Medal of Honor.

"For an especial meritorious contribution to the security and national interests of the United States and world peace in general, it hereby gives me great pleasure to award you the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction," the Vice-President said as he pinned the medal on Trunks' chest.

"Thank you, Mr. Vice-President," Trunks said back formally. Then the Vice-President moved on to Mayan.

"Gee, I never knew these ceremonies could be so boring," Buffy whispered to Xander.

"Suck it up, Buff," Xander whispered back, "This is as good as it gets. When you're old and demented in a nursing home you can still bore people with the story of how you got your big shiny piece of metal. And they actually have to listen cause it's a PMF! Ain't that awesome?"

"You're easily impressed," Buffy bit back.

"That's cause I like things to be boring," Xander grinned, "Boring and predictable. Just the way I like it."

x

* * *

x

Eventually all things come to an end and everybody got their medals. But there was still one more award to be handed over.

A Marine honor guard handed Chichi, dressed in widow's weeds, a folded flag.

"Ms. Son," the Vice-President said, "Normally we give the families of those who have died in the service of their country the flag of that country. But I was told your husband did not believe in any country above another. His was a love too great for one country, for he lived and died to defend our entire planet. So I hereby offer you, as a symbol of the entire planet, the flag of the United Nations of Earth instead."

"Thank you, Mr. Vice-President Chichi said humbly as she accepted the flag.

"I want to give you something else, Ms. Son," the Vice-President said and an aide handed him some papers which he then held out towards Chichi, "It has pleased the President to offer you and your family honorary citizenship of this great country. I was told that you place particular high value on a good education for your son. Know that if he chooses to he will get a full academic scholarship on any American university he should so chooses to attend."

No greater gift barring perhaps Goku's return could possible be given to Son Chichi and she embraced the Vice-President so enthusiastically Gohan had to step in to help the man.

Finally the proceedings came to an end as the Vice-President held a speech.

"To those brave men and women who fought with distinction in the Cell Games. The President wanted to come here and thank you all personally. But he cannot for obvious reasons. I know some of you grumble about the way we are turning Bruce into the hero of the Cell Games. It cannot be helped. While you have all shown great bravery and sacrifice, what happened that day has to remain a secret, so we must honor a clown in order to safeguard your privacy."

"But know that we, the government of the United States, and other Allied governments, know of what you did, and the debt that we owe you. Even though your sacrifice and bravery will not be remembered in public, we will not forget. Most importantly, neither will you."

The Vice-President chuckled briefly.

"This is where I usually have to make a political speech to the members of the press. But luckily today we are without those parasites. So all that remains is to say thank you, from the bottom of my own heart, and let's get something to eat, courtesy of Uncle Sam. I declare this ceremony to b….."

Suddenly the skies began to darken rapidly, shrouding the military base in darkness.

"What the…." Xander exclaimed as he looked upwards, "That's just like…."

"Someone's using the Dragonballs," Krillin said, "But how…., they're inert for at least a year?"

Then, before somebody could say anything there was a thunder flash above their heads, but no lightning bolt. Then the darkness lifted as fast as it came. But not before there was a loud scream of somebody falling from a great height.

Then, falling out of the sky, a girl fell to the ground, landing right in the middle of the parade ground, creating a small crater in the process.

"Holy crap, what was that?"

"Stand aside, stand aside."

"My God, she's still alive."

"MEDIC!"

Slowly Buffy and Xander made their way through the soldiers to see what the hell was going on. And then they saw. And stopped right in their tracks.

Lying in a crater of her own making, looking mightily bruised and unconscious, but other then that seemingly okay, was Buffy.

The other Buffy.

The one with a tiny scar on her lip.

And she was holding a baby.

Who had a small tail.


	40. Epilogue Appendix

**Epilogue**

' **Sleeping in Light'**

x

x

AN: _So, we're reached the ending of yet another wild ride. I hope you guys liked it. Now this final piece is going to be a little sentimental. And it's all thanks to Shadowmaster, that proverbial plot generator, who suggested it to me and I thought it was a spiffy idea. All except for the ending, that's my little plot bunny._

x

* * *

x

A-Day+17 years, 8 months, 9 days, somewhere, sometime

Global human population: 30 million (estimated)

x

The space/time machine materialized over San Francisco. But it was not the San Francisco of Toyota Prius driving Liberals and fistfucking gays that Xander remembered. This San Francisco was one where only a few ten thousand people eked out a living, most of them employed by the factories of Capsule Corp. In those parts that were still left standing that is. From what he could see as Mayan piloted the space/time machine downwards was that there used to be a whole lot more buildings and factories, but those had been destroyed in the Great Burning of San Francisco, now more then three years ago.

As she piloted the space time machine down Xander couldn't help but be struck by how god awful it must have been for the two of them to have grown up here. It immediately gave him newfound respect for the pair.

The machine touched down in the back garden of Bulma's private mansion. Which also looked nothing like the place he had once visited long ago, in a different lifetime almost.

But there were some people that he recognized. First and foremost Trunks of course. Who together with Mayan had not only defeated Androids #17 and #18, but also the imperfect Cell that had been gestating in Gero's lab in Bali and had come out only days after the androids' defeat.

Then there was Bulma of course. Older then he remembered and yet still a hot MILF. Good genes. Good genes indeed.

Then there was a blonde girl, so much alike Buffy was when he first met her, and yet also nothing like her. She must be the current Slayer, Jacky. Boy, didn't he envy her job right now. Now that the androids were gone and humanity wiped out within an inch of its existence the demons would probably try and take over the place. She would probably have to call upon the services of Trunks and Mayan a lot these coming years.

And then, like the proverbial cockroach that he was, standing underneath a sunroof, was Angel. That guy just survived everything.

As the canopy opened Trunks came forth to meet him and took him in an embrace.

"Well met, brother," Trunks said, well met."

"Brothers in arms and brothers in death," Xander grinned, "a little birdie told me you kicked some serious android ass."

"I had some help," Trunks grinned back as he winked at Mayan, "So, how are things on your end?"

"Strange doesn't even begin to cover the word," Xander said shaking his head, "But at least nobody tore each other's head off so far so I guess that's good, right?"

"I guess so," Trunks chuckled.

"God this feels weird," Bulma said as she came forth and shook Xander's hand, "I mean, I'm sorry, but I helped bury you."

"Oh, don't worry," Xander smiled back, "I'm pretty much accustomed to weird. I grew up in Sunnydale."

"Yeah, I remember you always saying that," Bulma chuckled. Then Xander held up a briefcase.

"I come bearing gifts," he grinned and gave the briefcase to Bulma, who eagerly took hold of it.

"You remembered," she said, her voice shaking as she opened the briefcase and saw row upon row of neatly stacked Capsule Corp. capsules packed inside. Since each had a compressed carrying capacity of one metric ton of supplies there were probably enough no longer obtainable electronic supplies in there to rebuild Capsule Corp. industries and help jumpstart human civilization again.

"Hi, I'm Jacky, the blonde girl said, then she closed one eye and eyed him wearily, "Be warned though, I'm told that you have a 'thing' for Slayers."

"Probably from Dead Boy over there," Xander chuckled as he nodded towards Angel, hiding from the sun.

"Good to see you too, Harris," Angel called out.

Xander waved briefly towards Angel, then he turned towards Jacky again.

"Don't worry, Jacky, as Dead Boy over there can testify I only have a 'thing' for _one_ certain Slayer."

x

* * *

x

The dim lit room smelled musty. Like the cleaners didn't come enough in here. That or it was some kind of unwashed old people smell. With a hefty dose of urine thrown into the mix.

Considering that he was in Mad Max beyond Thunderdome country either way could be excused though. But considering who was in the bed and who was taking care of her maybe it shouldn't.

"Xander?" a voice croaked. A voice distorted by years of neglect and yet oh so recognizable.

"Yes, Buff, it's me," Xander said as he pulled up a chair and sat down by her side. God she looked awful. Her hair looked terrible, matted in some places even. And she had grown fat. So fat from years of inactivity. Damn that Dead Boy!

But then again he couldn't completely blame Dead Boy. At least he had stood by her when everybody else had forgotten her or pretended she didn't even exist any more. And he knew from bitter experience with Angela that there was only so much you could do with someone who barely reacted to any stimuli.

But as soon as he spoke up for the first time in fourteen years Buffy came to life.

"You've come back," she said as she turned her head to look at him.

"I always come back," Xander smiled at her as he reached out and took her hand, "You know me, ill weeds grow apace. A true Sunnydale survivor. The human cockroach. That which does not kill me hasn't found a big enough gun yet."

"I missed you, Xander," Buffy said as a tear began to roll down her cheek, "They said you wouldn't come back. They said that you were dead. But I knew. They were wrong. I knew that you would come back to me. You promised, remember?"

"Xander Harris always keeps his word," Xander said as his other hand reached out and caressed her cheek. She briefly closed her eyes and smiled contently.

"Xander always keeps his word," she said, her voice starting to break up and her hand squeezing his.

When she did that Xander looked away and felt tears welling up himself. God, this was hard!

"Are you crying, Xander?" Buffy asked curious, causing even more heartache.

"I'm fine, Buff," Xander sniffed, "Tears of joy, Buffy, tears of joy."

 _God! Why did he come here? And how much could a man take before he breaks down?_

"Xander?" Buffy croaked.

"Yes, Buff," Xander asked as he wiped away his tears.

"Could you please hold me?"

"Sure thing, Buff," Xander, slid his chair as close as was possible, then he took her body into his arms and put her arms around his neck.

"I like this," she croaked. This close Xander could feel her heart beating. And it wasn't a good rhythm.

Looking briefly upwards to curse both their fates Xander then put her head on his shoulder and gave her a kiss on her hair. Then neither said anything for a while.

"Xander?" she finally said.

"Yes, Buff?" Xander asked.

"I know it's too late, and that I look fat and hideous now…"

"You look as beautiful as the day I first met you," Xander said as he pressed her a little harder to himself, "The most beautiful girl in high school."

"You're such a liar," she chuckled softly, "But thank you."

"You're welcome," Xander said.

"I love you, Xander," she then said.

"I know," Xander said calmly, "I love you too. You're like a sister to me."

Buffy began to chuckle again.

"Yeah, that kind of love too," she said softly, "But that was not what I meant."

"You didn't?" Xander said slightly puzzled.

"You know that time, right before I went to the Master and you asked me out?"

Xander couldn't help but chuckle himself now.

"Yeah I remember," he smiled, "Not one of my best moments I must say. I guess we weren't meant to be."

"Well," Buffy continued weakly, "If there's one thing in my life that I could do differently it would be that moment."

" _Now_ you tell me?" Xander said incredulously, "Buff, your sense of timing is lousy."

"It is, isn't it?" she chortled again, then she stopped laughing, "I love you Xander Lavelle Harris."

"I love you too, Buffy Anne Summers," Xander said as he felt his voice breaking up again, "In every possible way. Including in ways that are only legal in the Appalachians and the Ozarks."

After this sudden outpouring of declarations of love she fell silent again.

"What a weird bunch we are," Xander said after a while, "You, the Slayer, me, some part Saiyan, part Slayer, part weirdo. Willow some souped up sorcerer. Belmovekk with his crazy shenanigans. Giles with his weird book fetish. You here, in this forsaken reality, me, in my own crazy one."

"Willow says hi," Buffy suddenly said. Causing Xander to look oddly at her.

"When did you speak to Willow?" he asked curiously.

"Just now," Buffy replied, "She's standing over there. She looks odd though. Like she's spent too much time in the sun without any sunscreen."

Xander looked around and saw nothing. It should have meant nothing. And yet….

Stranger things had happened. And of all the things supernatural it was ghosts that freaked him out most. The undead he could deal with, but the dead he preferred staying dead.

"Uh, hi, Will," he said nervously.

There was no reply.

"She says hi back," Buffy croaked.

Okay, so there was a reply after all.

"She says she will take over from you now," Buffy continued, "and she wishes you a safe journey back home."

Okay, this was getting really freaky now.

"Uh, Buff, starting to feel a fair bit of the wiggins now," Xander said.

"That's okay, Willow says she understands," Buffy said, then she began to cough.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Xander asked worried.

"I think I'll be going with Willow now," she said even weaker then before, "Tell my sister…, I…., that I'm…, that I'm so…., no…., tell her that…. I'm proud of her. Tell her….., mayo…. mayonnaise."

"Mayonnaise?" Xander said bewildered, "What kind of message….."

"One more thing," Buffy interjected coughing, "Willow…., she wants me…, one more message…, for you…., for Belmo….."

Okay, now Xander was really starting to get power freaked.

"Tell them….., the Beast….., the Key….., protect…., sister."

"Buffy," you're not making any sense," Xander said.

But there was no more reply. For her heart had stopped beating.

Tenderly Xander laid her back into the bed and straightened her hair. He kissed her one more time on the forehead, then he slumped beside her on the bed and began to cry.

x

* * *

x

After what seemed like forever Xander re-emerged from her room, only to find everybody waiting there for him.

"Is she…..," Angel asked, all but falling apart.

"Yeah," Xander nodded, then he looked at Mayan, "It was as you thought. She only hung on until I came back."

"Excuse me," Angel said, then he went past Xander and went inside Buffy's room.

"How do you feel?" Trunks said towards Mayan, "Now that she's…."

"I feel strangely calm," Mayan said, not showing any sign of emotion, "in a way I lost her fourteen years ago. At least now I have closure. And peace. I'm happy for her though, she's finally free now."

Trunks said nothing, instead he put his arm around her shoulder.

"She had a message for you," Xander said.

"She did?" Mayan said surprised.

"Something about mayonnaise," Xander said.

All eyes turned to Mayan. Who looked utterly shocked.

"…and ketchup," Mayan said, her voice now breaking up. Then she broke free from Trunks' embrace and stormed into Buffy's room.

"What was that all about?" Xander asked bewildered.

"It means that her big sister hadn't completely forgotten about her after all," Bulma said, then she sighed, "And let's keep it at that."

x

* * *

x

In a way it was a sad thing to see so few people at Buffy's funeral, Xander thought. Somebody who had saved the world so often as she had, or played a big part in it, deserved to be acknowledged.

But most of that happened before the coming of the androids. Since the human race was now down to barely a few million there weren't a lot of people around left to remember.

But that was okay. They had always battled away from the spotlights, unseen and unsung. As long as they knew, that was all that mattered. So in that sense it was appropriate that one of Earth's greatest defenders was now laid to rest in the Briefs' family graveyard, amidst a few friends and loved ones.

So many from back home had wanted to be here, in no small part Joyce herself, god bless her big heart, to aid yet another alternate daughter of her in distress. Giles, Belmo, Willow, even Buffy, they all wanted to come here.

But in the end there was only room for one passenger in the space/time machine. And in the end they all agreed that Xander was the most appropriate one to go. He had brought video messages from the whole gang back home for her, didn't got around to show them to her. But that was okay. He felt she had gotten what she needed. Instead they were played at her funeral instead. And who knew, maybe this crazy ghost Willow kept her around long enough to see them. It seemed like the ghost Willow thing to do.

Angel, Trunks, Mayan and he himself had carried her coffin to her grave, then the Capsule Corp. pastor spoke some fine words for the dozen or so people assembled.

Eventually her coffin was lowered into the ground, next to the other Scoobies, Willow and Xander. Which felt really…, well, weird wasn't even the word. Although he was sure as hell going to pose for a picture with his grave stone after this was over. Maybe do a little dance on his grave on video?

As everybody was having their last moment with Buffy's grave Xander began to wander around the other graves. He saw the graves of Bulma's father and mother and wondered if they had been killed by the androids or something that could have been avoided. Maybe it was a good idea to ask the Bulma here so he could tell the Bulma back home what to expect.

Next he came upon a row of grave stones with no graves in front of it. Curiously he examined them and was shocked to recognize the names.

Vegeta. Piccolo. Krillin. Yamcha. Tien. Roshi. Gohan and his mother Chi Chi.

"We had no bodies to bury," a voice said, causing Xander to look up. It was Mayan.

"The stones without graves," Mayan continued as she pointed to the row of stones, "Bulma wanted a place where we could mourn them all, so she had these markers made."

"I see," Xander nodded, then he looked at the stones again, "it's very….. breath taking?"

"It's not for me either," Mayan agreed.

"I wonder though, I don't see the Big Guy's grave," Xander said pointing along the entire row, "didn't he die with them when the androids first attacked?"

"Over there, behind Buffy's grave," Mayan said as she pointed behind Buffy's grave, "The whole family together as it were."

"I have to see that," Xander said as he pulled out his digital camera and walked around to see the grave stones.

"That's Giles' stone," Mayan said as she followed him, "And that's Anya's."

"Anya?" Xander said as he looked oddly at Mayan, "Why's she here?"

"Damned if I know," Mayan shrugged, "Willow knew but I never bothered to find out. Xan…, I mean our Xander, I think she mattered to him. I think she was his girlfriend."

"Anya? My girlfriend?" Xander said aghast, "Perish the thought alone."

"Well, there are obvious differences between our universes," Mayan said.

"I guess so," Xander replied, too stunned to say much else.

"Well, there's mom, and dad's stone right next to her, and right to it is my siste….," Mayan said, then she stopped mid-sentence and looked towards Bulma.

"Bulma? Where's the gravestone of my sister?" she asked.

Bulma gave Mayan a puzzled look.

"Buffy's?" she asked, "It's right here, sweetie. We just buried her."

"No, I mean Dawn's," Mayan said pointing to an empty spot on the ground, "You know, my twin sister. Who died in Sunnydale."

Bulma returned a blank stare and then looked first at Trunks, then at Angel.

"Come on," Mayan said as her astonishment grew, "I know I didn't come with much here, but I know for a fact that you also made a stone for Dawn. And it was right here!"

"She's right, mother," Trunks interjected, "There was a grave marker for Dawn there. I remember it too."

Bulma now looked at her son in absolute bewilderment. She wanted to say something when Angel spoke up first.

"But Mayan, I was there when you were born. And you were an only child."

x

* * *

x

A-Day + 25

x

 _Mission leader report_

 _It's been 14 days since the incident when this strange chi emanations were detected coming from deep space. After studying the phenomenon it was determined that they were a mix of chi signatures, some of which we were able to identify as the evil tyrant Freeza, curse to his name, and the long lost Prince Vegeta._

 _After ample deliberation with our Goa'uld ally we were able to pinpoint the emanations as coming from inside this Galaxy. But when an expedition arrived there we found nothing but a massive deserted battle ground. The phenomenon returned at an even stronger level ten days later from a planet that according to our Goa'uld ally is the homeworld of some very troublesome people that have been causing much problems for our ally._

 _As these people control their own gate we cannot travel there using the Cha'pa'ai system. Neither does our ally want us to go there. We therefore have to use our own transports instead._

 _Our mission is twofold. First to determine if the evil tyrant Freeza, curse to his name, is still alive and in what capacity. If so we are to report back immediately._

 _Our secondary mission is to see if Prince Vegeta is still alive. While there are many who feel that the house of Vegeta had led our people to ruin, the Articles of Exile did not officially end their rule. But even if it did, he is still one of us and the Articles of Exile specifically state that if possible no Saiyan shall be left behind. At the very least even Vegeta should have the right to rejoin his people._

 _Mission leader out._

Closing the computer screen the occupant of the small spherical space ship, cramped and just large enough for a single occupant, briefly looked out of the window, where two other spherical space ships traveled along through the depths of space. Satisfied the occupant then activated the ship's hibernation systems and was soon in a deep sleep.

Thus the three Saiyan space pods went on, hurling themselves through space towards their destination.

Earth.

x

* * *

x

THE END

x

Or….

x

To be continued in Part 5: The God and the Saiyan

x

 **Butterflies & Hurricanes**

Muse – Absolution

Lyrics by Matt Bellamy

x

 _Change, everything you are_

 _And everything you were,_

 _Your number has been called_

 _Fights and battles have begun_

 _Revenge will surely come_

 _Your hard times are ahead_

 _Best, you've got the best_

 _You've got to change the world_

 _And use this chance to be heard_

 _Your time is now_

 _Change, everything you are_

 _And everything you were,_

 _Your number has been called_

 _Fights and battles have begun_

 _Revenge will surely come_

 _Your hard times are ahead_

 _Best, you've got the best_

 _You've got to change the world_

 _And use this chance to be heard_

 _Your time is now_

 _Don't let your self down_

 _And don't let yourself go_

 _Your last chance has arrived_

 _Best, you've got the best_

 _You've got to change the world_

 _And use this chance to be heard_

 _Your time is now_

x

x

x

* * *

x

 **Appendix**

x

YES!

Another part done!

This feels so exhilarating. And yet also frightening at the same time. Time to move on to a new part of the story. And yet at the same time it means abandoning something that felt comfortable while working on. Something that almost took 1,5 years to make.

I have to be honest. I am not sure if I will do Part 5, or if it gets started that it will get finished. At times it has been quite busy on the real life front, so I'm not going to promise things that I can't keep. And at the very least reaching this part has always been my measurement for success. I kept telling myself, if you make it to the Cell Games at least, that's something to be proud of. Anything after that is just bonus. Time will tell if Part 5 will materialize. Both in part or as a whole. I want to do it though, I'm just not sure that time and circumstances will permit me. I still envision three more parts to come, excluding the Buu saga. But I don't think I will do that. I never really liked the Buu saga that much on the account of it being too silly. Who knows, my thoughts might change, all depending on my muse. It wouldn't be the first time that happened. But let's just see if I can get part 5 off the ground first.

x

Evaluation

x

Personally I think I stuck too much to continuity as is. With the Buffyverse I tend to stray off way more then I did with the DBZ verse. I'm not sure why. All the more strange because I've been looking forward to doing this story since day 1. Even more so because many of the story elements that differ from canon stem from the early days. Maybe its because to me the Cell sagas are my favorite part of DBZ. Like the original ending of BtVS season 2 I loved it too much to radically alter it.

Another problem I found difficult was handling the many characters. There were just too many of them to let them all take centre stage. It's why Giles, Willow and Spike kinda dropped out of sight for most of the story. Mea Culpa! I know!

x

The interludes.

x

I get the impression that most of you didn't care much for them. That's okay though. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. I became enthralled with them, possibly because there was so little canon material of that grimdark future to work with, thus giving me more freedom to do my own thing. Also, as a writer I don't want to repeat myself. Which is why the thought of doing a little side story in between chapters appealed to me.

x

Breakout characters

x

When I first created future Mayan I had no idea she would grab so much attention. Some of my original characters tend to do that. Like Angela and Ferucca did. In the end though the story probably could have been written without Mayan as she didn't really prove to be that important. But then again, part of that was fully by design. I don't want every story element to be critical to the story. Some stories are like the scenes in every James Bond movie where Q gives Bond some new gizmos. And you just KNOW that they're going to play a big role later on. I've seen too many movies and stories that do that, where you know as soon as they introduce something, it will factor in big later on. I don't want my story to be like that. Even if I have to introduce characters with lots shebang that turn not to be critical to the story at all.

To me other breakout characters were 18th century Slayer/Watcher team Marcus and Victoria. I created them back in the days of Mayor and the Saiyan with the specific purpose of them being Xander's great-great-great-grand parents, but I didn't think that their story proved that interesting to me. If there is enough interest, both from you the reader, or from me, I might explore their story in full.

And finally there is of course Priya, our Saiyan Goddess of War. Which I admit also got a bit out of hand. Taking an ever greater and keener interest in our favorite Slayers. Which surprised even myself because I never planned to use her as more as some Ancient lady scientist that the Saiyans once knew in their distant past and which they later turned from legend into a deity.

x

The Powers that Be

x

I've always hated the Powers that Be for the meddling bastards that they were. I freely admit to borrowing the idea of the PtB as evil meddling bastards from 3DMaster (when do we finally get a new Buffy Z update?) , but I've also read a gazillion other fics that portray the PtB's as uncaring bastards that throw our favorite heroes into whatever crossover that that writer fancies. It usually involves that asshole Whistler, so I took particular delight in writing his torture scene.

One thing that always struck me as odd in Buffy Z was that despite Xander declaring war against the PtB, they seemed to take very little action against him. Which was one of the big story elements in Part 3, where the PtB basically use Adam as their weapon against the Scoobies. I just didn't name them yet at that time. Now I do. In case you didn't get:

IT'S THE POWERS THAT BE THAT BELMOVEKK WAS SENT TO FIGHT!

x

Thanks

As always I would like to thank Shadowmaster (damn you for finishing A World of Difference before I did!) for helping me with some nifty ideas, Mr. Plot Bunny. 3Dmaster, jKal and the girls of DBZ Super Z for having inspired me to take up writing in the first place. And of course the late great David Eddings!

x

x

x

* * *

x

 **Powerlevels**

x

I'm not sure I should be doing these any more. I think I've now reached the same point Toriyama did when he stopped giving his readers exact powerlevels. At some point those numbers became too big to even mean something. And everything after the Trunks saga is just fanon guesswork anyway. If I said that character X has a powerlevel of half a billion what does it mean?

I do intend to keep track of powerlevels for each and everyone for myself though, as I have to know where each and everyone stands in regards to the story.

Just to give you a final fix, here are the powerlevels as they were at the start of this story:

Buffy

2.164.190

Xander

603.389

Faith

1.505.359

Belmo

37.500.000

SSJ Trunks

20.000.000

Mayan

1.500.000

SSJ Vegeta

27.000.000

SSJ Goku

25.000.000

SSJ Gohan

5.000.000

Piccolo

8.000.000

Tien

610.000

Imperfect Cell

45.000.000

Riley

6.000

As you can see, Buffy, Xander and Faith's PL's are not rounded down, as these numbers are the result of extensive spreadsheet formulas into which a lot of thought has gone.

Honest!

Cut me own throat and hope to die otherwise!

Suffice to say that now this story is over both Gohan and Buffy are now the strongest fighters in existence. Which means you get the following ranking:

Gohan, Buffy, Vegeta, Belmo, Piccolo, Xander, Android #18, Faith, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha.

Faith's relative low position of course stems from her inability (yet) to go Super and having spent only 1 year in the RoSoT, not 2. And not from some form of inferiority in regards to Buffy.

x

Super (Saiyan)

x

I really should come up with a different term then Super Saiyan as neither Xander nor Buffy are Saiyans. When I dreamt up the back story back in the days of parts 1 and 2A I didn't want to do Super Humans and Super Slayers. Buffy Z did that, it did it awesomely (How about a new update?), but I felt stealing the PtB's as villains was enough stealing as it is. I wanted something else for our heroes. So I came upon the idea of the Slayer not having stuffed a demon down her throat as in canon, but the essence of the First Super Saiyan. With enough changes of course to be significantly different. But only different in the sense that while lions and tigers are different animals, they are both still big cats. So, unless you're closely related to a Saiyan, or a a Slayer, going Super will hurt like hell.

That's it folks! It's a wrap!


End file.
